JOIN US !!

The South Maui Coastal Heritage Corridor was envisioned as a series of interpretive signs along the west coast of Maui that explain a certain feature of that location and join the entire group of areas into a heritage corridor.  This was a project spearheaded by Helen Felsing of the Kihei Community Association and the KCA Corridor Action Committee.  This dream was realized and a chain of about 13 interpretive signs have been at different sites along the west side for many years.  Many of these signs are either on the coast or very near the coast line.  Most of the lands that host the interpretive signs are on county or state reserve lands and the idea has been in the minds of many south Maui residents for years to join the areas up and down the coast with a walking/ hiking trail extending from the boardwalk near the Kealia Pond to Makena. 

At a KCA Community Meeting two KCA members and advocates spoke to the community about the heritage corridor and the possibility of a trail joining them.  Bob and Lis Richardson realized that a portion of that corridor was in an area where they were working on a trail extension from the Kihei Boat Ramp south to the beaches of Wailea.  This section is at the west end of the property of the Kaho'olawe Island Reserve Commission (KIRC) lands and they have been a very active and supportive partner.  This was probably the first section of the trail that was actually completed.

With the help of many volunteers, groups, and organizations that trail has expanded each year.  The trail locations have been evident for many years and it only takes the willingness to volunteer and work under the direction of the State Land Agents and Maui County to begin to develop another section along this pathway. 

In places, the trail ends and Maui park lands begin and that land becomes the trail or lateral pathway moving on.  In other areas the trail is located along a thin strip of State Reserve Lands where either individual land owners or condo's hold a least to the land.  Still an accessible and useable trail, but maintained by an individual or condo association.  There are interesting transition pathways to and from these areas and although signage is not always uniform, no one gets lost! 

A major partner all along the trail has been the Hawaii Tourism Authority and the Maui Office of Economic Development.  They have provided funding through grants for various sections and projects along the way.  The key to any of this progress is having a funding agent or 501(c)3 agency to handle the administration of the grants and donations.  Tri-Isle Resource, Conservation, and Development, Inc. has provided this service and mentorship at every step. With all of the funding in place, and all of the permits signed, we would still be at 'step one' without the volunteers that work every week to build and maintain these trails.  

What a blessing and wonderful omen, the sea has not taken away nor given up any more coral since that fateful winter when they started to widen the trail that will eventually connect with the entire South Maui Coastal Heritage Corridor Trail.

KIAWE TREES:

Kiawe trees are not indigenous plants to Maui. They were actually introduced by the missionaries. The kiawe thorns encouraged clothing compliance and the pods from the tree provided high protein food for the goats and cattle. When the livestock ate the pods, the seeds would soften and begin to germinate in the belly of the animal. Everywhere the animal would go and leave its waste; there would be the fertile clump from which new trees would propagate. There must have been some active animals in this part of the south Maui shoreline, because there are almost 300 kiawe trees between the start of the Hoaloha ‘Āina south trial and Kamaole Beach Park III!

Volunteers are working to trim and shape some of the larger trees and remove the smaller shrubs—especially the ones with the thorns! In speaking with a local cultural expert, the limbs should be laid into wind rows which would allow the sands to be trapped so that the area will be restored. The ruts will naturally be eliminated and the dunes can be rebuilt through these wind rows. It is a long, arduous job (not to mention dangerous!) to work around kiawe but progress has been excellent. The added bonus to all of this trimming and cutting is that the ocean view all the way to South Kihei Road has been opened up. What used to be blocked by patches of dense kiawe is now a beautiful view of the Boat Ramp and ocean.

Along the trail, native ilima and ilima papa are also being exposed by removing weeds around them in order to give them the greatest chance for survival and repropogation.

During a combined workday with the Rotary Club of Kihei-Wailea and Hoaloha ‘Āina; the land immediately to the side of the boat ramp was cleared of dense brush and rogue trees. See an animated slideshow of a boat ramp clean up day HERE.

AKULIKULI:

Native kou and loulu palms were exposed and trimmed. Now some irrigation puka pipe has been placed in the ditch to capture the boat rinse water to water the ground. Native akulikuli is growing wild in the area, and Hoaloha ‘Āina will be planting and transplanting some of the groundcover so that the hill will have erosion control. The added bonus of using akulikuli is that the roots have toxin-negating properties! The roots actually filter the toxins and neutralize them. Akulikuli has been discovered to clear ponds of scum and algae. This groundcover looks like an ice plant with dainty pink flowers and tolerates salty, dry conditions but will also do well in almost any condition. A drainage basin has been constructed on the beach below the trailer parking lot to collect boat wash runoff and akulikuli is growing nearby. Hoaloha ‘Āina hopes that between the plants growing wild and the ones to be planted will help clean all the boat rinse water before it hits the ocean.

SMALL PART OF THE WHOLE:

The trail Hoaloha ‘Āina has constructed is a small section in what will eventually be almost ten miles of trails and boardwalks. Possibly one key contribution this group has made is to set the example of what a grass roots group can do. It is hoped that others will gain inspiration to build other sections of the trail so that the South Maui Coastal Heritage Corridor Trail dream will be realized. As their literature says “Today our shoreline is as crucial to our survival as it was to Hawaiians of old. South Maui Heritage Corridor is a non-profit community movement to protect our coastal heritage through interpretive signs and publications, public trails, and community stewardship for coastal sites.” Hoaloha ‘Āina is proud to be a part of this much larger picture.

 

One of our first "big wins" was having barriers placed around the parking lot to keep vehicles off the trail and items from being dumped on this beautiful land.