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Kahuku Ranch
The Nature Conservancy is partnering with the National Park Service to acquire Kahuku Ranch in the largest conservation purchase in Hawai'i history. The ranch's 116,000 acres range between 2,000 feet elevation to almost the summit of Mauna Loa volcano, encompassing spectacular scenery and a wide variety of native ecosystems. The land supports fragile natural communities endemic to Hawai'i, including lava flows and lava tube systems; unique mesic, wet, and subalpine forests; and alpine deserts.
Kahuku Ranch
© Adriel Heisey |
Preservation Impact:
Kahuku Ranch links more than 500,000 acres of conservation land owned by federal, state, and private agencies. It is surrounded by The Nature Conservancy's Kona Hema preserve, Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, the Kona Forest Unit of Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge, and state forest and natural area reserve lands.
Ecological Importance:
The landscape at Kahuku contains many natural communities that occur nowhere else on Earth. This one-of-a-kind land provides important habitat for at least five endangered bird species, the endangered Hawaiian bat, a threatened seabird, five species of globally rare Hawaiian songbirds, and several threatened and endangered plant species.
Plans:
The National Park Service and The Nature Conservancy have jointly purchased Kahuku Ranch to expand the land area of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park by 50 percent.
Partners:
The National Park Service
Crater
© Adriel Heisey |
Major Threats
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Feral animals including pigs, goats and sheep eat native vegetation. Because of these animals, the endangered Ka'u silversword plant only survives in fenced enclosures or steep gulches in and around Kahuku Ranch.
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Subdivision and development
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Invasion of alien weeds
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Wildfires |
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In the News
Kahuku Ranch Facts
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Size: 116,000 acres
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Location: Ka'u District of the Island of Hawai'i, on the southwestern slopes of Mauna Loa volcano
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Elevation: Between 2,000 feet and 13,000 feet above sea level
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Plant Species: Endangered Ka'u silversword
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Animal Species: Hawaiian bat
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Bird Species: Three species of endangered forest birds: ālala, ākepa, and ālauahio; five species of globally rare Hawai'ian songbirds: člepaio, i'iwi, āmakihi, ōmaō, and āpapane; endangered Hawaiian hawk ('Io), found only on the island of Hawai'i; endangered Hawaiian goose (Nene); threatened Hawaiian dark-rump petrel
Endangered Hawaiian geese (nene)
© John and Karen Hollingsworth/U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service |
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