Program Group
Hanapēpē, West Kauaʻi · 50 Acres
Rooted in this ʻāina, growing for generations to come.
Along the Hanapēpē River estuary, Hui Ulu Haha Loa is restoring a 50-acre biocultural landscape shaped by more than 35 years of family stewardship. Through this work, we nurture the land, strengthen community, and grow abundance for generations to come.
50Acres
One living landscape
One living landscape
Hui
Community gathering
Ulu
To grow
Hāhā
Stalk of the kalo plant
Loa
Long, enduring, abundant
Kuleana · Purpose & Responsibility
Honoring this place. Restoring its future.
Hui Ulu Haha Loa is dedicated to honoring the history of Hanapēpē, restoring and stewarding native and culturally significant plants, wetland ecosystems, and food systems, and strengthening Native Hawaiian cultural practices for generations to come.
Our name was chosen after careful research into Hanapēpē's history. Kalo farming stood out as a symbol of pride, creativity, resilience, and identity for this community.
Mālama ʻĀina · 35+ Years of Stewardship
This is not a new project. It is a continuation.
Our family has operated on this landscape for decades. In 2020, following the sale of the family business, we purchased the adjoining 25-acre property. This purchase allowed us to dedicate ourselves full-time to restoring the broader 50-acre landscape bordering the Hanapēpē River estuary.
Co-founder Frank was born and raised in this moku. The coconut groves, kī corridors, marsh restoration, gathering spaces, and much of the planted landscape have been created by hand over time by our family and community.
Nā Papahana · Program Areas
Many pathways, one living landscape.
Each program is rooted in the same purpose: caring for ʻāina, carrying cultural knowledge forward, growing local abundance, and deepening our community’s relationship with Hanapēpē.
Program Group
Culture and Practice
Program Group
Community and Future
ʻĀina · Our Sacred Land
Hanapēpē is a living relationship.
This place is more than acreage. Within the ahupuaʻa of Hanapēpē, water travels from the mauka lands in the mountains, through valleys and cultivated areas, to the makai coast and sea. For generations, these connected systems have sustained food systems, cultural practices, native life, and community. Caring for this land means accepting a responsibility that must be carried forward.
01 · Wai · Fresh Water
Water is life and wealth.
In Hawaiian understanding, fresh water is sacred. The words kānāwai and waiwai reflect the deep relationship between water, law, abundance, and the shared responsibility to protect what sustains a community.
02 · ʻĀina · Land That Feeds
A place shaped by practice.
Across Hanapēpē, generations have cultivated kalo, harvested salt, fished, caught birds, and gathered from the land. The land and waters hold knowledge formed through close observation, skilled work, and reciprocity.
03 · Muliwai · Estuary
Where fresh and salt water meet.
The natural estuary includes stream-mouth, sand-flat, mud-flat, and silt-bottom habitats. Its waters support endemic āholehole and ʻOʻopu naniha alongside indigenous moi, ʻamaʻama, ʻomilu, and ulua aukea.
Mālama ʻāina, practiced here.
Across 50 acres bordering the Hanapēpē River estuary, Hui Ulu Haha Loa is restoring water flow, native and culturally important plants, wetland habitat, food systems, and places for learning and gathering. The work is grounded in a simple promise: leave this living landscape stronger for the generations who follow.
50Acres under stewardship
35+Years on this land
4,000Kī plants being cultivated
50Breadfruit trees from NTBG
Muliwai · Estuary & Wetland Habitat
A community-created refuge for Hawaiʻi's native birds.
The restored 4-acre marsh provides successful breeding habitat for Koloa Maoli and ʻAlae ʻUla. Adult and juvenile Aeʻo also use the marsh, demonstrating its importance in connecting the few remaining wetland habitats on West Kauaʻi. Future work includes removing invasive vegetation, planting native vegetation, expanding accessible wetland habitat, and securing long-term sanctuary protections.
ʻAlae ʻUla · Hawaiian Gallinule
Koloa Maoli · Hawaiian Duck
Aeʻo · Hawaiian Stilt
Nēnē · Hawaiian Goose
ʻAukuʻu · Black-crowned Night Heron
Kōlea · Pacific Golden Plover (migratory)
Nā Pahuhopu · Our Goals
What we are building toward.
Our goals reflect a long-term commitment to ecological recovery, cultural access, food resilience, and organizational sustainability. Together, they create infrastructure that will serve Hanapēpē long after any individual funding period ends.
- Expand native nursery capacity for propagation of hala, kī, naupaka, niu, and other native species
- Restore native and culturally important plant systems across the full 50-acre landscape
- Establish and maintain agroforestry plantings, including breadfruit, for long-term food resilience
- Strengthen and expand the 4-acre marsh ecosystem as protected habitat for native wetland birds
- Increase access to cultural plant resources for hālau hula and community practitioners
- Strengthen intergenerational knowledge transfer through hands-on stewardship and education programming
- Develop the Hawaiian Salt Making Heritage Center to preserve and share Hanapēpē's cultural traditions
- Build long-term organizational capacity to sustain and scale restoration work across West Kauaʻi
Connect With Us
Let’s grow something lasting together.
We welcome conversations with funders, partner organizations, cultural practitioners, and neighbors who share our commitment to the land and people of West Kauaʻi.