Endemic forest envisioned near Haleiwa

A Haleiwa landowner and the Hawaiian Legacy Reforestation Initiative nonprofit are teaming up to create what is described as the largest managed endemic Hawaiian forest on Oahu.

The Hawaiian Legacy Forest at Haleiwa is being planned on 400 acres of former sugar cane land above Haleiwa town with the aim of planting up to 150,000 endemic trees, including koa, kou, milo, ohia, naio and iliahi.

The project is part of a planned 1,400-acre agricultural development by Pomaika‘i Partners LLC known as Laukiha’a Farms, which will have about 1,000 acres devoted to farming and agriculture.

“We feel that the land is very important to the community, as it was once crown lands owned by the royal family,” said Pomaika‘i Partners’ Denise Albano, project director. “It is a responsibility or duty of ours to return the land to what it was and restore some of it and make it available to the community.”

The project plans to launch the reforestation initiative with a series of community planting events scheduled to begin in November. Dates haven’t been announced.

According to the Hawaiian Legacy Reforestation Initiative, a team of trained foresters will clear the land of invasive plant species such as strawberry guava, ginger and other ecological threats to a native forest. The land has been left largely unused since sugar operations ended in about 1996.

The endemic trees will then be planted with the help of community volunteers and ecotourism and nonprofit partners.

In addition to the native trees, endemic understory species will be planted across a contiguous mix of forest, stream beds and hillsides.

The trees will be part of a permanently managed native ecosystem that will never be clear-cut, said former state Sen. Francis Wong, board chairman of the Hawaiian Legacy Reforestation Initiative.

“This forest will enhance our watershed, prevent runoff that damages our reefs, provide native habitat for some of Hawaii’s rarest birds and become a living resource for the Hawaiian culture and Haleiwa community,” Wong said in a news release.

In partnership with Legacy Carbon LLC, the Haleiwa forest will be added to the only certified carbon offset program anywhere in Hawaii and the first international Gold Standard certified forest carbon project in North America, the nonprofit said.

Legacy Carbon first received its certification in 2015 through the Swiss-based Gold Standard. Measured and verified carbon offsets are generated in Hawaii through the planting of Legacy Trees that capture and store carbon that would otherwise go into the atmosphere and contribute to accelerating climate change.

To date, more than 500,000 native and endemic trees have been planted in the program.

The offsets, which are generally purchased by local businesses that sponsor the Legacy Trees, can be used to neutralize their own carbon footprint.

To track tree health, the Hawaiian Legacy Reforestation Initiative uses drone video imagery and state-of-the-art radio-frequency identification technology to record each tree’s growth and location. The effort allows sponsors to track their tree online throughout the tree’s lifetime.

The inaugural planting at Haleiwa is expected to be announced soon. For more information, go to LegacyForest.org/Haleiwa.