A proposed long-term community stewardship and acquisition initiative currently under development. No public financial participation program is currently being offered.
Why This Land Matters
Seven reasons this land is worth protecting
The value of these lands cannot be measured in a single way. Each dimension below carries its own responsibility — and its own reason to care.
Land
The mountains, valleys, and slopes of Molokaʻi hold the island together — its soil, its forests, and its identity. Protecting the land means protecting the foundation everything else stands on.
ʻĀina
The land is not a commodity. It is a responsibility carried across generations.
Water
Forested slopes capture rain, feed streams, and recharge the aquifers that supply Molokaʻi's communities. Healthy watersheds mean clean, reliable freshwater for the island.
Wai
Care for the forest, and the forest cares for the water.
Culture
These lands carry the stories, practices, and knowledge of generations. Cultural places deserve respect and protection, and traditional knowledge deserves to be honored — not commercialized.
Moʻomeheu
Culture lives on the land. Protecting one protects the other.
Agriculture
Working lands can feed the island and sustain local livelihoods. Responsible agriculture keeps soil healthy, reduces dependence on imports, and strengthens community resilience.
Mahiʻai
A living land can feed the people who care for it.
Wildlife
Molokaʻi is home to native birds, insects, and plants found nowhere else on earth. Protecting habitat means protecting species that are part of the island's unique living heritage.
Holoholona
Some species exist only here. Their survival is in our hands.
Community
The people of Molokaʻi — residents, kūpuna, keiki, and practitioners — are at the heart of this work. Decisions about these lands should rest with the community that depends on them.
Kaiāulu
The community is not a stakeholder. It is the center.
Future Generations
Every choice is measured against its impact on those who will inherit these lands. Stewardship means thinking in generations, not quarters — building structures that endure long beyond today.
Nā Hanauna
We do not inherit the land. We borrow it from those who come after us.
Every dimension is a responsibility
Protecting these lands means protecting all of these things at once — and doing so openly, with the community at the center.