The Pu’u Kukui watershed extends across Mauna Kahālāwai on Mauiʻs West side.  

This pristine area is a vital water source for Mauiʻs community and one of the wettest spots on earth.  The intact native Hawaiian forest at Pu‘u Kukui works as a natural sponge to capture the water used by the entire West Maui community.  It is home to plant and animal species that exist nowhere else in Hawai‘i, or anywhere else. 

A small crew of paid staff and volunteers has been working over the last 30 years to protect the native forests and stop the threats from invasive plants and animals.  Our long-term goal is to restore damaged lands and expand the native forest from the summit of Pu‘u Kukui to the ocean at Honolua Bay.

Learn more about Hawaii’s watersheds and and forests

History:

  • About 1000 A.D., the first settlers arrive from the Marquesas islands by canoe

  • In the 1500s, King Piʻilani united Maui and ruled in Lahaina. He is credited with the exansion of agriculture in the valleys of Honokohau, Honolua, Honokahua, Honokeana, and Honokowai.

  • In 1976, Hōkūleʻa departed from Honolua Bay on its first voyage to Tahiti, marking the renaissance of voyaging in Hawaii.

  • In 1978, Honolua Bay and Mokule‘ia Bay were designated a Marine Life Conservation District.

  • In 1988, Maui Land and Pineapple protected 8,304 acres of the Pu’u Kukui Watershed with a permanent conservation easement. 

  • In 1994, the Pu‘u Kukui Watershed was added to the Hawaii Natural Area Partnership Program which helps fund management of private land dedicated to conservation.

  • In 2017, Hōkūle'a returned to Honolua Bay and volunteers planted 3,000 native trees and plants in Waokele o Honolua.

  • In 2021, the Honolua Valley conservation easement was created, protecting 791 acres, including Waokele o Honolua, and creating one of the few places in Hawaii where land is continuously protected from the summit to the sea.

  • In 2024, the non-profit Aloha Pu‘u Kukui was created as the organization focused on protecting and restoring the Pu'u Kukui watershed.

Aloha Pu‘u Kukui Leadership

Pōmaikaʻi Kaniaupio-Crozier, Director of Conservation

Pōmaikaʻi has led the conservation efforts in the Puʻu Kukui watershed for the last 14 years.  Fluent in Hawaiian and holding a Bachelorʻs degree in both Hawaiian Studies and Hawaiian language, Pōmaikaʻi combines traditional Hawaiian and western knowledge as he manages over 9,000 acres from the summit to the sea.  He is a director for the Mauna Kahālāwai Watershed Partnership and the West Maui Soil and Water Conservation District, a member of the West Maui Fire Task Force, the West Maui Ridge to Reef initiative and the Maui Conservation Alliance.

John Meier, President

John is the founder of Aloha Pu’u Kukui. He has been volunteering at Pu’u Kukui for six years and involved in conservation on Maui for the last 10 years. In 2021, John created the Honolua Valley conservation easement, permanently protecting 791 acres of land in Honolua Valley. He is on the advisory board for Trust for Public Land Hawaii and Maui Na Ala Hele. He started his career at Apple and worked for 20 years founding and growing software companies and has an AB in Computer Science from Dartmouth College.

Cristina Schenk, Treasurer

Born and raised on Maui, Cristina has a longtime connection to Pu‘u Kukui through her father, who was an executive of Maui Pineapple Company when the watershed preserve was originally established in 1988. A graduate of Seabury Hall, Cristina has a BA from Columbia University, a master’s in taxation from William Howard Taft University, and is a Certified Public Accountant. Cristina is the CEO of Merriman’s Restaurants, which has been a longtime supporter of Pu‘u Kukui. She also serves as the treasurer on the board of Grow Some Good and is both the vice chair and finance chair of the Maui County Workforce Development Board.

John Bendon, Secretary

John grew up on Maui’s North Shore and has always had a deep respect and commitment to the land and people of Hawai’i. A graduate of Seabury Hall, John earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Colorado and a Master of Science degree in Real Estate and Construction Management from the University of Denver. John moved back to Maui and founded Green Building Hawaii in 2007, which came to be the State’s premier green building and energy consulting firm working with many of the hotels and homes across the islands. John has been involved with a variety of non-profits on Maui and is eager to support Aloha Pu’u Kukui in its important stewardship efforts.

Pāʻanakalā Baybayan Tanaka, Director

Kalā has been studying navigation from her father, late master Pwo navigator Kālepa Baybayan, since 2006. 

In 2007, she crewed on the voyage Ku Holo Komohana (Japan voyage) and has also crewed on various legs of the Malama Honua Worldwide Voyage (Hawaii-Tahiti, Tahiti-Rarotonga, Virginia-New York, Hawaii-Tahiti, and Tahiti-Hawaii). During the Malama Honua Worldwide Voyage she fulfilled diverse roles including safety officer, education specialist, apprentice navigator, navigator, and captain. In 2016, she captained and co-navigated Hikianalia alongside her father from Hawaii to Tahiti. 

Kalā is the Assistant Executive Director for the Hui O Waʻa Kaulua, helping to steer their organization and provide model educational programs that utilize our waʻa kaulua voyaging traditions and values to inspire deep love and care for our ʻāina. He waʻa he moku, he moku he waʻa. Our island is our canoe and we all have a kuleana to mālama the resources of our beautiful island so that we may continue to sail.