Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 28, Number 1, 1 January 2011 — 'Doc' Burrows, Charles lsaacs lead the way in caring for Kawainui Marsh [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

'Doc' Burrows, Charles lsaacs lead the way in caring for Kawainui Marsh

By Howard Dashefsky Every single day thousands of people drive past it without even noticing it. And sadly some use it as an illegal dump site. But there is something wonderful happening inside Kawainui Marsh on the Windward side of O'ahu. "Our main focus here is to grow or regrow the plants brought here by the early Polynesians," said Charles "Doc" Burrows. "We're growing food such as kalo, or taro, breadfruit, sweet potato and sugarcane. Plants grown here since the beginning of this heiau a thousand years ago." Burrows along with Charles Lehuakona Isaacs serve as Co-Presidents of 'Ahahui Mālama I Ka Lōkahi, a nonprofit organization working to restore Kawainui Marsh, specifically the Ulupō heiau and the historieal site Na Pōhaku O Hauwahine. "Our mission is about developing, promoting and practicing the Native Hawaiian ethic," said Isaacs. "And the key word is practice. It doesn't do any good to just talk about it, we need to practice the Native Hawaiian conservation ethic." Together Isaacs and Burrows walk the walk. With concerned community groups and with students - future caretakers that run the gamut from elementary school grades to eollege level. "We're teaching themabout not only planting for future generations, but we're taking them into the marsh and cutting back invasive species and creating a wetland bird habitat," said Burrows. "It's a demonstration project really, and the purpose of doing this is to show what ean be done in the rest of the marsh and throughout the Hawaiian Islands." "We're working in this plaee our ancestors prepared long ago and cared for a century before us," said Isaacs. "It was forgotten. It was work that got buried or hidden by brush

and forgotten by people, but we're bringing back that vibrancy." For Burrows, the work is personal because he grew up in Kailua during a time when the | total populahon of the Windward community j was barely 1,000. "I've seen the changes from the eow pas- j tures and freshwater streams where we could j fish and swim," said Burrows, a longtime j Kamehameha Schools educator. "Now we see the urbanization. We all need to work together to restore the green space we now have, or it will all disappear. It will be built over as it has been over the past 75 years." In August, Burrows received the Hawai'i ■

Conservation Alliance's Distinguished Service Award for decades of work educating others. For Isaacs, it's a strong reminder not only of the work that's been done, but the need for the practice of restoring the marsh

to continue. "It's really important work because if it isn't done a lot of things would happen, primarily the cultural aspect will be forgotten," said Isaacs. "And when this happens these

things disappear from the landscape and ultimately from our memory." At 77, Burrows has no plans to step aside anytime soon. But when he does, he knows that Isaacs and others are ready to take the baton and run with it. "This is generational work. This isn't something we're going to be done with in a matter of years," said Isaacs. "And the only way we ean be assured the work will eonhnue is for us to educate our keiki. We've made a huge difference. If you saw the area around the heiau five years ago, it was all scrub brush. Now it's thriving. We just need to inspire the next generation of caretakers and instill in them the importance to mālama 'āina, to take care of this plaee we live." ■ Howard Dashefsky is a Contributing Writerfor Ka Wai Ola. A 25-year veteran in broadcastnews, heteaches journaīism atthe University of Hawai'i-Mānoa and produces showsfor OC 16.

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Dr. Chuck Burrows, center, with volunteers after a Kawainui Marsh work project. - Photo: Courtesy of 'Ahahui Mālama i ka Lōkahi

'Ahahui Mālama i ka Lōkahi Co-Presidents, from left, Dr. Chuck Burrows and Charles Lehuakona lsaacs Jr. stand together at Kawainui Marsh. - Photo by īahuēo Lawrence