LIVING PONO PROJECT

The Living Pono Project (LPP) is dedicated to growing futures for all. Our mission is to provide a bridge program for individuals into green industries including sustainable agriculture and conservation. Many of our programs focus on At-Risk Youth, people with disabilities, re-entering individuals, and beginning farmers and ranchers. As our State rebuilds its economy we have the opportunity to pivot strategic investments to prioritize local food production and consumption.

Living Pono Project endeavors to create a Pu'u Honua or Bread Basket for Hawaiian agriculture where people come to heal and be connected with their land and culture.

LPP is inspired and guided by many core Hawaiian values especially, the Aloha spirit and being pono, which for LPP equates to taking care of “all” individuals in a society. The founders of LPP believe that as “people of Hawai’i” and stewards of our culture we have a responsibility to take care of our people and our ‘Āina to ensure that future generations of islanders can thrive. LPP's strategies are to 1) protect Hawaii's cultural/biodiversity and fresh water resources, 2) reduce Maui's dependency on imported food, 3) encourage long-term solutions to food insecurities through a multi-system approach, 4) and build long term community capacity to address food insecurities and promote food resiliency in Maui County.

LPP operates in two locations in West Maui to provide services at a watershed scale. This includes 22,000 acres secured through an MOU with Maui Land and Pineapple Co., a major landowner in West Maui and a 300 acre Food Hub at the base of the West Maui Mountains. The term "ma uka to ma kai" connectivity is a Hawaiian concept that refers to the connection of upland freshwater to ocean and atmospheric water. Cool fresh water input from intact native forests also contribute cooler waters into the near shore environment, create a thermal buffer, and aiding in near shore currents. The Pu’u Kukui Watershed Preserve, is one of the wettest spots on Earth historically averaging nearly 400 inches of rain annually and was established to protect west Maui’s native rainforest and associated native plants and animals.

The protection of West Maui's watershed and fresh water supply supports the islands population as well as secures water for its agricultural needs.

Climate change is one of the most pressing challenges facing humanity, and agriculture feels its effects in profound ways. Farmers are particularly impacted by extreme weather conditions, which include drought, severe heat, flooding, and other shifting climatic trends. This project strives to protect the islands freshwater systems and identify transformative agricultural innovations to pivot with the changing climate and reduce GHG immersions.

This project has taken many strides to meeting our organizational goals. Two examples are:

Pu'u Kukui Watershed Preserve and Surrounding Area: Through and MOU signed in September of 2021 LPP manages 22,000 acres in west Maui. This include 12,600 acres of conservation lands in Honolulu Valley from the summit of Pu'u Kukui to the corals of Honolulu Bay, a Marine Life Conservation District. Together, active management from the summit to the corals of Honolua-Mokule’ie MLCD offer a unique landscape and many opportunities for cutting edge solutions to conservation issues and land management. LPP and Pu’u Kukui Watershed Preserve benefit forest health and promote climate resilience by utilizing a treatment train approach to watershed management that will provide West Maui communities with enhanced protection and buffering from local stressor exacerbated by climate induced stressors such as the increased frequency and intensity of storms. Treatment trains allow several management practices to function collectively; utilizing the positive aspects that each provides to benefit watershed health. This eases the burden of relying on one specific management practice to function optimally under all storm and pollutant loading conditions, addressing issues at an Ahupua'a (watershed) scale.

Waikapu Food Hub: LPP has identified equipment procurement as a critical barrier to small scale farming. As Agricultural lands are being re-zoned and sold for urban development those individuals interested in becoming farmers and farming as a livelihood are doing so either in their backyards or leasing small one-to-five acre plots. The high cost of leases and marginal return on investment make it fiscally challenging and unpractical for a new or an existing small scale farmer to purchase or lease their own tractor and the necessary additional attachments for their farming practices. Furthermore, these types of equipment attachments are in limited supply on Maui. As a response and solution to this issue, LPP has partnered with established Maui farmers to contribute secondhand equipment (i.e. Skidsteer, Backhoe, farm truck), farm supplies, weed wackers, lawn mowers, and tractor time for co-op use. Since the start of this pandemic The Bayer company has donated two John Deere Tractors to our efforts (2001 John Deere7810 Tractor and 2005 8120 Tractor) valued at $95,000 and LPP has procured an additional tractor, water truck, a screener for processing of organic top soil and mulch, and a dump truck (donated by Chick DeCotte)