Hawaii Tourism Authority to provide $1.5 million to 30 cultural programs

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January 12, 2022 (Pacific Business News)—The Hawaii Tourism Authority, in collaboration with Hawaii Community Foundation, will provide nearly $1.5 million in funding this year to 30 cultural programs throughout the state.

The funding is part of HTA’s Kukulu Ola program, which focuses on organizations and activities that support cultural preservation. Awardees this year include cultural practitioners, arts organizations, educational initiatives and more. Among the recipients are Hana Arts, Manoa Heritage Center, Pai Foundation, and The Kohala Center.

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Hometown Heroes: The Kohala Center, OHA mālama ‘āina in leeward Kohala

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June 9, 2021 (West Hawaii Today)—The Kohala Center has received a $150,000 grant from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) to reinforce and strengthen native Hawaiian family, culture, and land in Kawaihae.

The grant, which comes through the OHA Ohana and Community Based Program Grant for Hawaii Island, will help the Kohala Center address needs throughout the ahupuaa (traditional mountain-to-sea land division) of Kawaihae in leeward Kohala, which includes the Honokoa watershed. Through its “Hoolauna Kawaihae: Building pilina through respectful engagement” initiative, the Kohala Center will use the grant funds to research, learn, assess, and incorporate ancestral practices to engage respectfully in restoring dryland native forests in the ahupuaa and strengthening relationships between its people and the natural environment.

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Kohala Center Receives 150K For Native Hawaiian Support

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June 7, 2021 (BigIslandNow.com)—The Kohala Center announced Monday, June 7, that it has received a grant award totaling $150,000 through the Office of Hawaiian Affairs’ ‘Ohana and Community Based Program Grant for Hawaiʻi Island. The grant will help to reinforce and strengthen native Hawaiians’ ‘ohana (family), mo‘omeheu (culture), and ‘āina (land and water) in the ahupua‘a of Kawaihae during the year-long project period.

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Taking better care of the ‘āina: Pelekane Watershed improvements to mitigate ecological degradation

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February 2, 2021 (West Hawaii Today)—A two-year effort to protect and improve water quality and ecosystem health in the Pelekane Watershed was recently completed by The Kohala Center.

The Kohala Center, an independent nonprofit organization based in Waimea, helped to implement a rotational and targeted grazing program to support erosion control in the watershed through the state Department of Health’s Polluted Runoff Control 319 Program in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.

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EPA Educational Tool Inspires MIT Team to Develop DIY Air Sensor Kit for Hawai‘i Educators

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June 8, 2020 (EPA.gov)–Educators at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) drew on an EPA educational tool to create a new version of a particle meter to help teachers in Hawai‘i teach students about air quality and engineering. The MIT sensor design encourages hands-on learning at a time when more U.S. schools are embracing “makerspaces,” areas where students can explore and create using materials from art supplies to electronics.

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WMS seventh graders learn how to take care of the land

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August 27, 2018 (West Hawaii Today)—“Malama Ahupuaa,” the title of the latest Waimea Middle School oral history book, funded by Ike Hawaii and Hawaii Community Foundation, recently became available on Amazon. The book is the result of an oral history project conducted by Leesa Robertson’s Waimea Middle School seventh graders.

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Scientists deploy an IoT network to battle Kilauea’s deadly fumes

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August 7, 2018 (Particle Blog)—Scientists at MIT and [T]he Kohala Center have created a Hawai‘i Island Vog Network that provides real-time measurements of hazardous fumes like sulfur dioxide and particulate matter in Hawaii. The network collects data using low-powered sensors that are stationed near eruption zones and are connected to the Internet via a Particle Electron.

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Slowly but surely: Ouli Park project moves forward

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May 21, 2018 (West Hawaii Today)—Ouli Park’s entrance isn’t always easy to spot while driving up Kawaihae Road, as native plants often camouflage the sign.

But progress on the proposed community park was evident Saturday as volunteers could be seen clearing the trail alongside Keanuiomano Stream, weeding invasive species and outplanting koaia trees.

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Wai Watchers: The Vital Role of Volunteers in Watershed Health

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March 1, 2018 (Ke Ola Magazine)—This is a story of how communities are uniting and strengthening to protect the quality of our water from the mountains to the coast, of people rebuilding relationships with life and their connection to the Earth. From the cloudy mists among ‘ōhi‘a trees in the Kohala Forest Reserve, to the dew that drips into mountain streams to mingle with ‘ōpelu (mackerel scad) and wana (sea urchin) at the coastline—all water is connected. So too are the humans who live together on Hawai‘i Island.
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High School Sustainable Agriculture Program

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February 22, 2018 (BigIslandNow.com)—The Kohala Center is offering two outdoor-education programs for Hawai‘i Island high school students during the public school spring intersession, Monday through Friday, March 19 to 23, 2018. Participants who successfully complete the weeklong programs are eligible to receive a $125 to $250 stipend in the form of a VISA gift card to commend their dedication to natural resource college, career, and community pathways.
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