BYUH Partners With Hawaiian Islands Land Trust

BYU-Hawaii’s International Cultural Studies department is partnering with Hawaiian Islands Land Trust to infuse youth into its land protection efforts.

Brigham Young University-Hawaii students enjoy some hands-on cultural anthropology on a recent visit to Maunawila heiau as part of their official collaboration with Hawaiian Islands Land Trust. PHOTO FROM HILT.

A conservation collaboration agreement recently signed by both parties will mean more helping hands for the trust and wider learning opportunities for the college students. As BYUH associate professor Tevita O Ka‘ili put it, the partnership “nurtures a symbiotic relationship for sharing and acting on knowledge and practices pertaining to conservation and culture.

“We look forward to many fruitful years of collaborating with HILT in caring for our honua, earth,” he said.

HILT will present land conservation lessons to the students, for example, and the students will participate in the ongoing cleanups at Maunawila Heiau in Hau‘ula. The students also will help raise funds and be able to join the trust’s discounted Young Friends membership program.

HILT formed a similar partnership last spring with Kihei Charter School on Maui.