**3. Reviving 'Aina Malo'o ¯**

While engagement in lo'i restoration and maintenance has been a core vehicle for communication and education regarding Hawaiian culture, it does not represent the full spectrum of Hawaiian agriculture and, on the younger islands of Hawai'i and Maui in particular, does not accurately represent participants' ancestral engagement with 'aina malo'o. To facilitate discussion of biocultural ¯ restoration stemming from the revived cultivation of 'aina malo'o multiple representatives from each ¯ of five identified organizations (Figure 4) contributed: Ulu Mau Puanui, Maluaka, Mala Kalu'ulu, ¯ Hui Malama i ka 'Ala ' ¯ Ulili, and Ho'o'ulu'ulu Kahalu'u. The contributors represent a wealth of ¯ experience regarding efforts on 'aina wai and ' ¯ aina malo'o, and are among the leading organizations ¯ conducting agricultural restoration on 'aina malo'o. We present a brief case study on three of the ¯ organizations to exemplify key aspects of the efforts. The three were selected not only because they are the most developed of the organizations, but represent the most substantially different pathways to the restoration that is occurring.

#### *3.1. Ulu Mau Puanui*

While researching the leeward Kohala slopes, using one of the most striking rainfall gradients on the planet to study soils and ecosystems, Peter Vitousek and colleagues had the opportunity to collaborate with archaeologists studying the rain-fed Leeward Kohala Field System, a 6500-hectare area that was once farmed intensively by Hawaiians. The region, which is mostly used for cattle today, retains the imprint of Hawaiian agricultural practices, with the infrastructure still etched on the landscape (Figure 2). Together, ecologists and archaeologists developed an understanding of why the systems exist where they are, eventually demonstrating that the location of the field systems related to soil development and thresholds of soil properties that change with age and rainfall. The interdisciplinary team also studied the Hawaiian populations that lived in leeward Kohala and how their societies functioned and evolved [19,39,61–72]. However, for all the research that situated the development of agriculture within environmental and social context, they did not understand *how* rain-fed agricultural systems worked, namely how people grew crops and how they sustained the productivity of that land for centuries under conditions where most people worldwide practiced much less efficient slash-and-burn agriculture. Recognition of this shortcoming led to the founding of Ulu Mau Puanui, a community-based non-profit organization that established three permanent garden

plots spanning the rainfall gradient in an effort to rediscover the agricultural practices associated with the field system.

**Figure 4.** Location of the five organizations focused on restoration of traditional dryland agriculture and a depiction of the general patterns of agricultural reliance of Hawai'i Island estimates by ethnographic sources, archaeological surveys, and biogeochemical models. It is important to note that the forms of agriculture presented are only the broad categories of the dominant forms applied, and many nuanced variations within any area occurred, including areas that do not depict any agriculture. For instance, in Kona, although dominantly rainfed areas of spring-fed, flooded or irrigated cultivation occurred, along with areas of agroforestry.

Puanui is one of thirty-three *ahupua'a* in leeward Kohala that make up the Kohala Field System. (*Ahupua'a* is a traditional land division system, generally considered the smallest land division in Hawai'i that still retained strong political oversight, which, for the most part, coincides with the concentric geography of islands, in which the divisions extend from an upland interior to the ocean, encompassing a range of ecosystems and resource types [73].) While large ranching landowners now own most of the Kohala Field System, Kamehameha Schools owns the narrow *ahupua'a* of Puanui (but has leased it to Parker Ranch for grazing for many years). (The Kamehameha Schools is a private educational trust endowed by the will of Hawaiian Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop (1831–1884) that provides preferential admittance to Native Hawaiian students. They are the largest private landholder in Hawai'i and a very substantial organization in the state. As the literal and metaphorical descendant of the Hawaiian monarchy, they are in the critical eye of the Native Hawaiian population, which insists that they be leaders and advocates for Hawaiian culture and well-being.) When approached, both Kamehameha Schools and Parker Ranch were highly supportive of an effort to bring Hawaiian crops, and the Hawaiian community, back to the Kohala Field System at Puanui. Ulu Mau Puanui's efforts focused on outreach and education to the broader community. The gardens attracted substantial local

interest, including groups from several schools that made multiple repeat visits. It quickly became clear that there is no substitute for experience and experimentation in this landscape; the system itself must have evolved that way, and as we seek to understand it, we find that experience and experiments unlock knowledge in the community as well as providing scientific information.

Ulu Mau Puanui manages the gardens of Puanui, provides access to the land for schools and community members, and encourages groups to come and work on the rain-fed agricultural system and to contribute to the process of discovery. The mission of Ulu Mau Puanui is to "engage in hands-on, land-based learning and culturally-centered science with learners, educators, families, and community in order to revitalize and better understand the Kohala Field System". The vision is that,

when we are successful, our communities will appreciate the scope, diversity, and global significance of Hawaiian agriculture as it was practiced before European contact. We will understand that Hawaiian agriculture arose from a populous, organized and innovative society, and that the society in turn was shaped by its interactions with the land. We will build on that understanding to create an innovative and dynamic modern society that has a deep understanding and connection to its land. It is our hope that this transformation will spread across the Archipelago, and across the Pacific to produce a transformed modern agricultural system that draws from the wisdom and sustainability of the past, the knowledge and experience of local farmers and ranchers, and the best agricultural practices of the wider world that provides Hawaii with most of our food.

At Ulu Mau Puanui, a sustained interaction between scientists, respected cultural leaders, and community and student members has resulted in trust building and mutual exchange that has caused all parties to ask deeper questions and examine their own biases and assumptions in new ways. Culturally-centered science—the integration of Hawaiian ways of knowing that helps inform and inspire scientific inquiry—has been the cornerstone of activities. This has led to an inquiry-based framework that promotes creativity while practicing cultural values such as *kilo*—observation, *pili*—relationship to the land and others, *ho'ihi ¯* —respect, and *kuleana*—responsibility and privilege. This process has impacted the participants and the researchers alike and brought two, often disparate, perspectives much closer together. Since established, the restoration at Puanui has led to multiple publications that have directly examined elements of biocultural restoration [8,13,14,74].
