In a monumental achievement, members of the University of Hawaiʻi community joined forces with more than 2,000 volunteers to celebrate the historic completion of the Heʻeia Fishpond wall on December 13. The event at the Loko Iʻa o Heʻeia in Koʻolaupoko, Oʻahu, marked the culmination of a 25-year restoration of the ancient kuapā (fishpond wall).
Volunteers mobilized for “MOʻOKUAPĀ,” employing traditional methods such as halihali to pass coral and rock to complete the final 300 feet of the 7,000-foot circular wall. Paepae o Heʻeia, the nonprofit established in 2001 by Native Hawaiians to mālama (care for/steward) the fishpond, spearheaded this monumental undertaking.
“We are connecting the past to the present with a promise of 800 more years of abundance in this community, just like our kūpuna did 800 years ago,” said Executive Director Hiʻilei Kawelo, a UH Mānoa alumna.
The wall’s completion secured the future of this vital cultural landmark and critical living laboratory. As the site of the Heʻeia National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR), the 88-acre fishpond is intrinsically linked to UH‘s research community. Paepae o Heʻeia, which manages the site in partnership with Kamehameha Schools, uses the fishpond as a place of learning, weaving ancestral knowledge with contemporary research methodologies. UH scientists work closely with community members to develop studies aimed at restoring the system’s ecological function and productivity.
“Faculty, staff, and students have been giving sweat to the fishpond monthly at our NERR Laulima workdays, and it showed on this day. Paepae o Heʻeia trusted these select researchers enough to stand alongside longtime ʻāina stewards and help lead the 2,000 volunteers,” said Aimee Sato, Indigenous Stewardship Coordinator with the Heʻeia NERR and the UH Mānoa Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology. “Once we were all in the maroon alakaʻi (group leader) shirts, we were all one, and there was no distinction between researcher or mālama ʻāina steward. There is still work to do in strengthening restoration projects and relationships, but I am hopeful we see more of this across Hawaiʻi.”
