Ka’alaea Koa Farm

Ka’alaea Valley is a 12.5 acre lowland section of the Koolaupoko watershed in Kahalu’u. The private property owner in Ka’alaea valley activated Kipuka Land Management to create and implement a plan to reforest HARCS disease resistant koa trees, ohia, hala and other native Hawaiian species in the surrounding area with the goal of reforesting the surrounding area’s degraded forest and improve the watershed recharge.

Once overtaken with invasive trees such as dillenia, fiddlewood, and albizia, now a thriving test farm with around 400 trees an acre. Partially fenced to reduce the impact of ungulates on the forest.

KLM had to opportunity to introduce similar reforestation objectives to the neighboring Kahula Lio farm which is an 8 acre farm formerly planted for pineapple production. This farm was established as a legacy project on marginal land. and features a diverse native shrubland and regenerative forest model of 60+ native species.

Overall, Kipuka LM was able to successfully convert the initial invasive forest found at Ka’alaea Valley into a thriving native Hawaiian forest and improve the biodiversity.

These are actively managed projects and will continue to become more diverse .