Hoʻihoʻi Maunawili
Returning Maunawili to the hands and hearts of the community
For generations, Maunawili has fed our community’s body and spirit, has sustained native ecosystems, and has shared the stories of our ancestors. Today, we have the opportunity to ensure that Maunawili isn’t just protected, it thrives. Hoʻokuaʻāina, Kauluakalana, Hawaiʻi Land Trust, and Trust for Public Land are working together to raise $500,000 to build a momentum that will ensure perpetual stewardship of these lands for the benefit of our community.
Your kōkua will mālama these storied places, reconnect the community, and inspire generations to come.
In Partnership:
About the Effort
In the heart of Maunawili, Oʻahu, two storied lands—Pālāwai and Makaliʻi—are being returned to community care. Fed by wai ʻolu lipo (lush, dark, exhilarating waters), these fertile places have sustained generations through loʻi kalo, native forests, and deep interdependence between people and ʻāina. For decades, our community has fought to protect this ʻāina from development and restore it for shared use and cultural renewal. Now, for the first time, that vision is within reach.
Maunawili’s waters are poised to once again feed, heal, and reconnect the people of Kailua, just as they did for generations. For over a decade, Trust for Public Land has partnered with Hui Maunawili- Kawainui, a coalition of nonprofits and generational ‘ohana, to purchase and permanently protect over 1,000 acres which include Pālāwai and Makali‘i. Today, the acquisition funds have been secured and the real estate transaction process in motion, ensuring that ownership of these vibrant lands will be returned to community hands. Ho‘okua‘āina and Kauluakalana, two trusted nonprofits with deep experience in ʻāina restoration, education, and cultural revitalization will own and steward Pālāwai (116 acres) and Makali‘i (59 acres), respectively, and they will be forever protected through conservation easements co-held by Hawaiʻi Land Trust and the City and County of Honolulu.
This moment is about more than conserving land. It is about looking to the future and investing in a shared vision where ʻāina and people thrive together. Through community care, Pālāwai and Makaliʻi will be restored into living, working landscapes—streams and springs will be restored, loʻi kalo replanted, and connection rekindled between people and place.
By supporting this campaign, you are investing not just in land, but in people. Your gift will ensure that the future of Maunawili reflects the wisdom and abundance of its past. Campaign proceeds will be shared equally among the four partners, supporting both the protection of these lands and their long-term care for generations to come.
Now is the moment to return Maunawili’s wai ʻolu lipo to community hands.
Join Us!
“We're going to need all of us to move this forward in order to ensure that these lands are perpetuated in ways that are pono for future generations.”
— Dean Wilhelm, Co-Executive Director, Hoʻokuaʻāina
“The work that we do here is not just about ʻāina restoration, it’s about community restoration. It’s about the future of our people here in Hawaiʻi.”
— Kaleo Wong, Executive Director, Kauluakalana
“It's a daunting task to take a thousand acres and turn Pālāwai into thriving lo'i and turn Makali‘i into a site for cultural renewal not only with plants, but with people, learning, language, and crafts, and I'm glad these guys are up to the task.”
— Kihei de Silva, Co-Founder Hālau Mōhala ‘Ilima
“Maunawili and Kailua were part of what we called the breadbasket of O‘ahu and the vision of many people in our community is to ensure that that happens again.”
— Kapilialoha MacKenzie, Hika‘alani, Lineal Descendant, Founding Member, Hui Maunawili- Kawainui
Talk Story and Hana With Us!
Join Hoʻokuaʻāina and Kauluakalana for an opportunity to learn more about our shared vision for Maunawili Valley, get your hands dirty participating in some volunteer work, and talk story with the staff and community members bringing this vision to life!
Walk and Talk at Pālāwai with Hoʻokuaʻāina
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1
Volunteer & Talk Story at Ulupō and Makaliʻi with Kauluakalana
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25 (Makaliʻi)
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 8 (Ulupō)
And Meet Us At
Kūʻokoʻa Kūkanono | Kaʻelepulu Elementary School (530 Keolu Dr, Kailua, HI 96734)
Saturday, November 29, 2025 | 10AM to 3PM
KŪʻOKOʻA KŪKANONO is held in commemoration of Lā Kūʻokoʻa, and is a FREE community hoʻolauleʻa celebrating our EA through mele, hula, kuʻi ʻai, and more. It will be an opportunity to KŪʻOKOʻA—to stand together as a community, embracing the aloha for people, land, and culture, while remembering the abundance that once defined Kailua's past and the abundance we hope to foster for Kailua's future.
COMMUNITY VISION FOR MAUNAWILI
Strengthen community health and resillience.
Improve community health and social bonds through culturally grounded stewardship that nurtures reciprocal relationships between people and ʻāina improving physical, mental, and spiritual health.
Restore native habitat and revive Maunawili’s watershed.
Restore and revitalize native ecosystems across the ahupuaʻa, including streams, springs, wetlands, forests and habitats for native species to protect clean drinking water and ensure climate resilience.
Improve local food security.
Develop a diversified, community-led agricultural model to fortify Hawaiʻi’s food systems while creating green jobs for a sustainable local economy.
Revive traditional practices and protect cultural sites.
Uplift the cultural legacy of Maunawili by safeguarding sacred sites, perpetuating ancestral knowledge, and restoring traditional practices that connect people to ʻāina and strengthen identity.
Olomana, overlooking Maunawili Valley.
Giving Levels
Postcard featuring the Queen’s Retreat, Maunawili, 1929
The levels below celebrate the waters and stories of Maunawili. Every gift to Hoʻihoi Maunawili is meaningful and valued. Each contribution — no matter the size — helps restore this ʻāina and sustain its waters and stories for future generations. To express our gratitude, we offer special recognition opportunities for donors giving $1,000 or more, detailed below.
All Gifts – Lepo ʻAi (edible mud)
Symbolizing the pink edible mud that 12-century navigator Kauluakalana placed into Kawainui Fishpond. Every gift nurtures this vision of ʻāina so abundant you could eat it.
Mahalo for your support.
$1,000 – Mākālei (fish-attracting branch) A moʻolelo about restoring pono to ʻāina in need of healing drawing life back to the springs, streams and fishponds in Kailua.
recognition on www.HoihoiMaunawili.org
recognition on future signage at Pālāwai and Makaliʻi
$5,000 – Kekoʻowai (knowledge source of Kawainui) Honoring Samuel Keko‘owai, 20th-century Hawaiian writer whose stories provide timeless lessons about how our community can come together again to care for our lands and waters.
recognition on www.HoihoiMaunawili.org
recognition on future signage at Pālāwai and Makaliʻi
handcrafted woodwork from reclaimed wood from this ʻāina (while supplies last)
$10,000+ – Kawainui (the great waters) The heart of Kawainui Fishpond, located in the heart of Kailua is a symbol of abundance, resilience, and restoration.
recognition on www.HoihoiMaunawili.org
recognition on future signage at Pālāwai and Makaliʻi
handcrafted woodwork from reclaimed wood from this ʻāina (while supplies last)
private tour for your group of 10
If you’re considering a larger gift, we’d love to talk story about the impact it could make. Contact Angela Britten, Hawaiʻi Land Trust’s Chief of Operations & Philanthropy.
Campaign Partners and Roles
For decades, the community has worked together to advocate for the lands and waters of Maunawili.
Trust for Public Land - the project manager, is leading landowner negotiations, capital fundraising, and the conservation real estate transactions. TPL will purchase the properties and then transfer ownership to community. To contact, please email Leslie Uptain.
Hoʻokuaʻaina - the future owner/steward of Pālāwai (116 acres), with plans to transform these lands back to ʻāina momona (fat, fertile land), perpetuate ʻāina-based education, restore traditional lo‘i kalo, dryland farming and agroforestry, and increase our island’s food security. To contact, email Kirsten Hollenbeck.
Kauluakalana - the future owner/steward of Makali‘i (59 acres), with plans to transform these lands back to ʻāina momona (fat, fertile land), perpetuate ʻāina-based education, restore traditional lo‘i kalo, dryland farming and agroforestry, and increase our island’s food security. To contact, email Makamae Santos.
Hawai‘i Land Trust - the future co-holder of conservation easements over Pālāwai and Makali‘i, ensuring it is forever protected for community benefit. The City & County of Honolulu will be the co-holder. HILT is also leading our joint Hoʻihoʻi Maunawili fundraising campaign. To contact, please email Angela Britten
To learn more about our joint Hoʻihoʻi Maunawili campaign please contact Angela Britten, Hawaiʻi Land Trust’s Chief of Operations & Philanthropy.
Other Important Maunawili Partners:
Hui Maunawili-Kawainui - a grassroots hui of 10+ orgs that together advocate for the health of Maunawili so that the valley can resume its vital and traditional role as a place of free-flowing fresh water, abundant agriculture, and rich natural, cultural, and historic resources.
State of Hawaiʻi, DLNR, Division of Forestry and Wildlife - future owner/steward of Maunawili Forest, Queen’s Retreat, and Kekoʻowai (909 acres), which will manage the lands as a forest reserve in close partnership with local orgs who will steward and restore cultural and historic sites and lo‘i kalo.
City and County of Honolulu - future co-holder of conservation easements over Palawai and Makalii, ensuring it is forever protected for community benefit.
Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation - current landowner and a critical mission-aligned partner and philanthropic supporter in the community-led effort to protect Maunawili and return it to community stewardship.
Capital Funding Sources
The capital need for the fee-simple land acquisition purchase will be funded via five public funding sources, including:
U.S. DoD REPI program - $11,200,000
City & County of Honolulu Clean Water and Natural Lands program - $5,839,000
State of Hawaiʻi Capital Improvement Project funds - $7,000,000
U.S. Forest Legacy program - $4,950,000
State Legacy Land Conservation program - $4,071,000
Kawainui as seen from the “New” Pali Road ca. 1920
Project History
On the windward side of Oʻahu in Maunawili Valley are more than 1,084 acres of what was once a thriving “breadbasket” for the island. These lands support critical waterways, dozens of cultural and historic sites, and fertile agricultural and conservation lands. This abundant ecosystem is privately owned and was previously in danger of being subdivided and sold off. More than 10 community groups in Kailua – collectively united as Hui Maunawili-Kawainui – have joined forces to safeguard these vital lands and return them to community-based stewardship for bio-cultural restoration and sustainable agriculture.