History

Peter Vitousek teaches about the Kohala field system.

​While carrying out research based on using the soils and ecosystems of Hawaii as models to understand how the world works, Peter Vitousek and colleagues had the opportunity to collaborate with archaeologists studying the rain-fed Leeward Kohala Field System, a 25 square mile area that was once farmed intensively by Hawaiians – and that in many places still retains the imprint of Hawaiian agricultural practices. Together they developed an understanding of why the systems were developed almost exclusively on Hawaii and Maui, and only on parts of those islands; together, they studied the Hawaiian populations that lived in Leeward Kohala and how their societies functioned , and reported results of that research in a number of publications.

However, for all of that research, they did not understand HOW rain-fed agricultural systems worked – how people actually grew crops, and how they sustained the productivity of that land for centuries under conditions where most people world-wide practiced much less efficient slash-and-burn agriculture. 

Most of the Kohala Field System is now owned or leased by large ranches; however, the narrow ahupuaʻa of Puanui is owned by Kamehameha Schools.  Puanui has been leased to Parker Ranch for grazing for many years. 

When approached, both Kamehameha Schools and Parker Ranch were highly supportive of an effort to bring Hawaiian crops – and the Hawaiian community – back to the Kohala Field System at Puanui.  With a National Science Foundation grant and the collaboration of community members (including Ala Lindsey), Vitousek and colleagues supported the establishment of three fenced gardens within Puanui, and began research on how intensive cropping could have been sustained in that environment. 

​The gardens attracted substantial local interest, including groups from several schools that made multiple repeat visits.  It quickly became clear that there is no substitute for experience and experimentation in this landscape; the system itself must have evolved that way, and as we seek to understand it we find that experience and experiments unlock knowledge in the community as well as providing scientific information.  The gardens are powerful educational as well as research tools.

To perpetuate the opening to access and to understand this central feature of Hawaii’s past – to sustain the educational resource it represents – we established Ulu Mau Puanui – a 501 C3 corporation based in the community.

A small herd of cows stand in a grassy field with pu'u in the distance. Image Source: Parker Ranch

​ Ulu Mau Puanui manages the gardens of Puanui, growing traditional Hawaiian crops on the land.  It provides access to the land for schools and for community members – encouraging groups to come to Puanui, to work on the rain-fed agricultural system, and to contribute to the process of discovery.

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