Description
Waikamoi Preserve provides an important sanctuary for hundreds of native Hawaiian plants and animals. It's high-elevation rain forest and alpine shrubland are home to 12 different native bird species, seven of them endangered, as well as spectacular plants like the blue ʻōpelu, a native lobelia.
TNC protects the native species that live in Waikamoi by managing the invasive weeds and animals threatening their survival. Our scarce funding goes towards on-the-ground land management, which is at the heart of what we do.
Why TNC Selected This Site
The East Maui watershed spans more than 100,000 acres across the windward slopes of Haleakalā, the 10,000-foot dormant volcano that dominates the east side of Maui. This vast koa-`ōhi`a forest is the last stronghold for 63 species of rare plants and 13 species of birds, seven of them endangered. The Conservancy established a preserve at Waikamoi, in the heart of the watershed, to provide a sanctuary for these birds and for hundreds of other native Hawaiian species.
What TNC Has Done/Is Doing
Waikamoi Preserve became a reality in 1983 when the Haleakalā Ranch Company granted a conservation easement to TNC over 5,230 acres. The preserve was expanded in 2014 when landowner Alexander & Baldwin conveyed a conservation easement over an additional 3,721 adjacent acres, bringing the total to 8,951 acres and making Waikamoi the largest private nature preserve in the state. The preserve protects part of the 100,000-acre East Maui Watershed, which provides 60 billion gallons of clean water annually to Maui's residents, businesses and agricultural community. TNC, Haleakalā Ranch and Alexander & Baldwin continue to work together (as part of the East Maui Watershed Partnership) to protect some of the best remaining forest in all of Hawai`i.
Waikamoi Preserve is managed in partnership with the State Department of Land & Natural Resources through the Natural Area Partnership Program.