PACFIC BUSINESS NEWS - Hawaii Land Trust receives $4M federal conservation grant
By Olivia Peterkin, Pacific Business News
Hawaii Land Trust has received a $4 million Recovery Land Acquisition, or RLA, grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to support conservation efforts on Hawaii Island, officials with the local nonprofit announced Monday.
The grant will go toward the conservation purchase of more than 640 acres at Mahukona on the Kohala Coast, an area that contains hundreds of ancient cultural sites and is home to several native species. RLA grants promote state and federal conservation of threatened and endangered species by utilizing funds to acquire land.
The grant for Mahukona was the only Recovery Land Acquisition funding awarded in Hawaii in the 2021 fiscal year, out of a total of more than $29 million in RLA grants distributed across 11 states.
“Collaborative and inclusive partnerships like the conservation work at Mahukona are essential for the recovery of threatened and endangered species,” said Earl Campbell, field Supervisor, Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in a statement. “The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is committed to supporting the conservation of Hawaii’s native species and the landscapes and partnerships that support them.”
Hawaii Land Trust and local nonprofit Na Kalai Waa and the Kohala community, is teaming up to purchase more than 640 acres at Mahukona for perpetual conservation, cultural site protection, and community education as well as enjoyment.
“As a Native Hawaiian and a proud product of the small fishing village of Milolii in South Kona, I have always supported conservation efforts of land areas that are subject to development, especially those that have significant archaeological significance,” said U.S. Rep. Kaialii Kahele in a statement. “I am pleased to hear that Hawaii Land Trust's USFWS Recovery Land Acquisition grant request of $4 million has been awarded.
"Our communities thrive when businesses, residents and public servants place value on cultural resources deserving of preservation," he said. "Hawaii is quite different from any other state in the nation as it sits in isolation in the middle of the Pacific. We are reliant on these types of efforts to ensure the sustainability of land stewardship and conservation.”
In total, Hawaii Land Trust has raised over $12 million of the $20 million needed for Mahukona’s purchase, and is seeking matching public and private funds for the rest.
“The ability to perpetuate Hawaiian culture such as traditional navigation is inextricably tied to ecosystem health," said Laura Kaakua, president and CEO of Hawaii Land Trust, in a statement. "Removing the development threat on these lands through a conservation purchase and perpetual conservation easement ensures the generational continuance of Hawaiian culture and lifeways, community educational access, and restoration and health of native dryland and coastal ecosystems. This generous federal grant significantly helps us move one step closer to this goal.”
