Live Aloha, Give Aloha:
Protecting the Forest That Gives Kapalua Its Water

The Kapalua Resort sits within one of the most extraordinary ahupua‘a on Maui — a traditional land division that runs unbroken from the mountain summit to the sea. It's easy to fall in love with the golden light on the golf courses, the turquoise water at D.T. Fleming Beach, or the quiet elegance of a Kapalua sunset. But none of it exists without what's happening quietly, far above the resort, at the top of the West Maui Mountains.

That's where Pu‘u Kukui begins.

We're kicking off a new series here on the blog called Live Aloha, Give Aloha — a spotlight on the organizationsdoing the real work of caring for Maui, and the many ways you can join in, whether that's rolling up your sleeves to volunteer or supporting them with a donation. It felt right to start at the source: literally, the source of West Maui's water.

What Is Pu‘u Kukui?

Pu‘u Kukui is one of the wettest spots on Earth, and the native Hawaiian forest that blankets its slopes functions like a giant natural sponge. Rain that falls at the summit is absorbed by dense native vegetation, moss, and soil, then slowly released downhill — recharging the streams and aquifers that supply water to much of the West Maui community, Kapalua included.

This isn't a manicured park. It's one of the last intact native Hawaiian rainforests in the state, home to plant and animal species found nowhere else on Maui, nowhere else in Hawai‘i, and nowhere else on the planet. Lose this forest, and West Maui loses its water supply along with species that exist only here.

The nonprofit Aloha Pu‘u Kukui exists to make sure that doesn't happen. Their mission is simple and direct: protect and restore the native Hawaiian forest that captures the rain and provides our water.

From the Summit to Honolua Bay

Aloha Pu‘u Kukui manages two conservation easements that together trace the full ahupua‘a — the traditional Hawaiian land division running from mountain to ocean:

• 8,304 acres in the Pu‘u Kukui conservation easement, up near the summit
• 891 acres in the Honolua conservation easement, reaching down to Honolua Bay

That span — from the cloud-wrapped summit of Pu‘u Kukui down to the reef at Honolua Bay — is what makes this work so meaningful. It's not just forest restoration. It's the protection of an entire watershed system, mauka to makai, that touches every part of life in West Maui, including the water flowing to Kapalua.

The Work Happening Right Now

This isn't a group with a mission statement and not much else behind it. Aloha Pu‘u Kukui has real people doing real restoration work, in two very different environments:

Up Mauka, at Pu‘u Kukui itself, two full-time staff members focus entirely on restoration — planting native species like the ‘ōhi‘a that anchors this forest ecosystem. The terrain up there is remote and genuinely difficult to access, so this work is limited to trained staff and experienced volunteers.

Down in Honolua, three full-time employees lead forest restoration, with plans to add a fourth this year. A part-time staff member has also joined to help restore a lo‘i (a traditional Hawaiian wetland taro patch) — reconnecting the land to its agricultural roots as well as its native ecology. Volunteers play a huge role here too, both for the hands-on help and because the work reconnects people to the ‘āina (land) in a way few other experiences can.

Since the start of the year, the momentum has been real:

• March: Volunteers from Merriman's and Trust for Public Land planted 1,000 native plants; Maui Food Bank planted another 1,000
• April:  Students from Kamehameha III Elementary School and the Surfrider Organization planted over 1,000 more
• June: Smaller volunteer groups added another 700

The goal now is to sustain a pace of roughly 1,000 new native plants a month, building toward an ambitious target for the year.

Ways to Give Back: Volunteer & Donate

This is the first post in our Live Aloha, Give Aloha series, highlighting the people and organizations protecting Maui — mauka to makai. Stay tuned for more ways to get involved, right here in West Maui and beyond.