Protected Lands: Hawaiʻi Island
Kona Cloud Forest, Kaloko, Kona
Photo courtesy of Kelly Dunn
Size: 10 acres
Year Protected: 2017
Land Protection Strategy: HILT Conservation Easement
Conservation Values: Ecological, watershed, wildlife, scenic
Land Features: ‘Ōhi‘a forest with koa, hāpu‘u fern, native plants
Hawaiʻi Island Director, Janet Britt worked with the owner of the sanctuary, Norman Bezona to acquire the easement which protects the forest and other conservation values of the property and restricts additional subdivision and development of the forest habitat.
Bezona, a well-known and respected Professor Emeritus at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa has worked in tropical agriculture and reforestation for more than fifty years. Norm dedicates most of his time to the Kona Cloud Forest Sanctuary by hosting botanical tours and educational programs year-round. Local educators use Kona Cloud Forest Sanctuary as a living classroom for organized educational programs and field trips emphasizing the importance of protecting tropical ecosystems.
Norman Bezona - Kona Cloud Sanctuary, University of Hawaiʻi College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources
Photo courtesty of Kelly Dunn
Visitors experience a towering ohia forest, ieie vines, hāpuʻu ferns, varieties of palms, bamboo, flowers, and native plant species many of them threatened or endangered. The Kona cloud forest also serves as a sanctuary for a variety of native birds including rare species such as the ʻĀkepa, ʻĀmakihi, ʻĀpapane, and ʻĒlepaio. Britt and Bezona hope that this project will spur additional landowners in Kona to work with the land trust to protect other lands in the area.
“We would like to thank Norman Bezona for his vision and The Conservation Alliance and Dorrance Foundation for their financial support to preserve this unique cloud forest environment in Kona,” said Kawika Burgess, CEO of HILT.
On Hawaiʻi Island, much of the forest surrounding the Kona Cloud Forest Sanctuary is being subdivided into small lots, bulldozed and cleared, so the ongoing threat of losing the cloud forest habitat on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi is high.
It is a relief to know that our ten acres of land here in Kaloko mauka is now protected. We hope to place the additional 60 acres of family land with the land trust. It is great to work with Janet Britt and the Hawaiian Islands Land Trust.
- Norman Bezona, landowner
