Mauna Kea Watershed Alliance

History & Mission

Mauna Kea or Mauna a Wākea (Mountain of Wākea), the tallest mountain in the State of Hawaiʻi, is rich in cultural, biological, economic, and watershed resources, and acknowledged as the birthplace of humans in The Kumulipo (Hawaiian Creation Chant). Mauna Kea holds deep cultural significance to Hawai‘i’s people, standing as a focal point of Native Hawaiian culture and spirituality and its forests are birthplaces of legends. However due to land modifications and alien introductions that are representative of Hawai‘i’s history and evolving economy, they are now home to rare and increasingly threatened native species and ecosystems. Today, Mauna Kea is the primary water source for the Big Island, and the mountain slopes are the food and fiber basket of Hawai‘i Island, making it essential to the island’s water, food, and fiber security.

In 2008, the State Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), a partner in most of the watershed partnerships, began contemplating a watershed alliance for Mauna Kea on Hawai‘i Island. A Mauna Kea Watershed Partnership Scoping Study assessed the feasibility of forming a Mauna Kea Watershed Alliance. The study identified key threats to these important resources including: invasive species, feral ungulates, and wildfire; and recommended establishing a watershed alliance for Mauna Kea, focusing on large landowners (>1,000 acres) above 2,000-ft. elevation.

A Memorandum of Understanding was drafted for the Alliance and signed in 2010 by seven founding partners, five landowning partners––DLNR and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (state agencies), Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge (federal agency), and Kūkaʻiau Ranch and Kamehameha Schools (private landowners) and two non-landowning/ affiliate partners, The Nature Conservancy and the U.S. Department of Interior Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Office. Since the watershed manager was hired in 2011, three more partners have joined the Alliance: landowning partners Lili‘uokalani Trust and Parker Ranch, and affiliate partner the U.S. Forest Service-Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry.

The perpetuation of this area’s richness depends on our ability to work together and serving as stewards to protect its unique resources for current and future generations. The current Alliance boundary encompasses ~ 416,000 acres on Mauna Kea and abuts the Three Mountain Alliance to the south and the Kohala Mountain Watershed Partnership to the north.

Ecosystem Highlights

Mauna Kea is a dormant shield volcano on the island of Hawaiʻi. Its peak is 13,803 ft above sea level, making it the highest point in Hawai‘i and some call Mauna Kea the tallest mountain in the world, from its underwater base. From the Hawaiian perspective, the peaks of the island of Hawaiʻi are sacred and in ancient law only high-ranking aliʻi (chief) were allowed to visit its peak. Ancient Hawaiians living on the slopes of Mauna Kea relied on its extensive forests for food, and quarried the dense volcano-glacial basalts on its flanks for tool production. When Europeans arrived in the late 18th century, settlers introduced cattle, sheep, and game animals, many of which became feral and began to damage the volcano’s ecological balance.

Mauna Kea can be ecologically divided into three sections: an alpine climate at its summit, a Sophora chrysophylla–Myoporum sandwicense (māmane–naio) forest on its flanks, and an Acacia koa–Metrosideros polymorpha (koa–ʻōhiʻa) forest, now mostly cleared by the former sugar industry, at its base. MKWA projects are often between 5,200-8,000 feet elevation on the eastern slope of Mauna Kea with the aim to increase connectivity and protect/restore native forests contributing positively to the mountain’s overall health.

Mauna kea is also home to Hawaiian deities such as Polia‘hu (cloaked bosom), one of four water goddesses that reside there. It is Poliʻahu who spreads her beautiful white kapa across the summit of Mauna Kea in the winter, and adorns the mountain with her pink and gold cloak in the summer. This natural phenomenon can still be observed today when positioned at the right place and time.