Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 34, Number 10, 1 October 2017 — Wao Kele o Puna plan approved [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Wao Kele o Puna plan approved

j 'ĀINA > LAND AND WATER

By Office of Hawaiian Affairs Staff On September 7, 2017, OHA's Board of Trustees (BOT) approved a Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP) for OHA's Wao Kele o Puna (WKOP) property at their BOT meeting held in Kona. Among those in attendance were several individuals of the 'Aha Kūkā (CMP Working Group) who were recognized for their participation in the planning process for over 2- 1/2 years. WKOP is a 25,856 acre lowland rainforest located in the ahupua'a of Waiakahiula, Ka'ohe in the moku of Puna, and is OHA's largest landholding. The CMP and its appendices contain a plethora of information including: the signifieanee of the forest, its function, and its history; Native Hawaiian cultural context; best forest management

practices; insight from members of the Puna and surrounding eommunity; and recommendations to help guide future management of the forest. The plan considers the

scale of the property and recommends that OHA: (1) work with the community; (2) protect the best; (3) kill the weeds; and (4) manage the pigs. OHA understands that: • WKOP is sacred to our people and that the beneficiaries and eommunity of the area are committed to this resource; • The vision set forth in the plan will take time and resources to implement; and • Managing a forest of this size is a considerable undertaking, with mueh to be done, The CMP sets OHA's management direction for the property and will lead to the development of action plan(s) that will enable its implementation over time. The CMP document is in the hnal phase of the editing process and is expected to be available via OHA's website in the near future. ■

Al 25,856 acres, Wao Kele 0 Puna on Hawai'i lsland is the largest_remaining lowland wel forest in the Pae 'Āina and 0HA's largest land asset. - Photo: Courtesy \Nao Kele 0 Puna stoff