Wednesday, March 20, 2024
Communications Office: (808) 768-5768
City signs historic agreement with local non-profit to care for corridor along Pearl Harbor bike path
HONOLULU – The City and County of Honolulu has entered into an historic agreement with the local non-profit Hui O Hoʻohonua to support their efforts to rejuvenate the culturally and environmentally important corridor along the Pearl Harbor Historic Trail. This agreement is the culmination of partnerships between the City, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam and the local community, and is ultimately the result of feedback from Mayor Blangiardi’s 2023 town halls.
Hui O Hoʻohonua is actively working to revitalize the area along the Pearl Harbor Historic Trail, with a focus on generating community involvement, planting edible and native plants, improving safety for walking and biking, and enhancing community identity by integrating Hawaiian place names. The project, titled “Hui Alaloa,” envisions a holistic greenspace.
The idea had run into challenges because the trail falls under multiple City department jurisdictions. However, after hearing community concerns at the Waipahū town hall in 2023 about the difficulties of trying to bring the project to life, Mayor Blangiardi directed his administration to come up with a solution so that the non-profit could work cooperatively with multiple departments under one agreement, clearing the way for Hui O Hoʻohonua to move forward with its noble goals. The military has also taken critical steps to support the project, allowing Hui Alaloa to become a reality.
“This is a shining example of how the City, our military, and local non-profit partners can tackle big challenges and move ahead together,” said Mayor Rick Blangiardi. “We recognized that Hui O Hoʻohonua wanted to do something transformative for this area and we knew we had to take action. I’m beyond proud of Cat Taschner, the director of the Department of Land Management, for spearheading an innovative solution and transforming roadblocks into a creative pathway forward. We’re also inspired for the future because this agreement could serve as a blueprint for positive initiatives in the future that benefit our local communities around the island.”
Students involved in Waipahū Intermediate School’s Future Farmers of America program have also played a key role in the effort, reclaiming campus land for native plants and agricultural purposes while teaching students about the transformative power of their own hands.
“The importance of today’s gathering is uniting community, whether it be the people residing in the Waipahū neighborhood or our City leaders working at Honolulu Hale. This is the time for our community to give back in the place they live for us and future generations to come,” said Evan Uiagalelei, Lead Field Tech for Hui O Hoʻohonua. “Olelo noeau ‘I ulu nō ka lālā i ke kumu’ translates to ‘the branches grow from the trunk.’ Without our ancestors we wouldn’t be here. For us to mālama ʻāina now, it will help our keiki thrive physically and mentally from the food their kūpuna have planted, and will put nutritious food back onto the plates of our community.”
—PAU—
Follow the Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation online and on social media:
YouTube: bit.ly/DPRyoutube Twitter: @honolulu_parks Instagram: @honolulu_parks
Facebook: facebook.com/honolulu.parks Nextdoor: bit.ly/DPRnextdoor Website: honolulu.gov/parks
