Māla Māunuunu

He Aliʻi ka ʻĀina, He kauwā ke kanaka

"The Land is Chief, and Man is its Servant"

Welina Mai! Me Ke Aloha Nui :)

Hoʻolauna (Introduction)

Māla Māunuunu is a Native Hawaiian dryland garden at Kapiʻolani Community College (KCC). It is home to endemic, indigenous, and endangered flora of Hawaiʻi, as well as the introduced Polynesian canoe plants that sustained the Hawaiian people for thousands of years and continue to sustain us today. This site has been in cultivation since 2008 by the collective limahana (working hands) of students, faculty, staff, and the community of KCC. Māla Māunuunu provides provisional, educational, and cultural resources through engaging kanaka (people) with Hawaiʻi’s unique flora. This māla serves as a medium for ʻāina based learning for a variety of disciplines to better understand Hawaiian culture and language, ecological knowledge, and environmental kinship through traditional farming.

Mission Statement

Māla Māunuunu’s mission is to cultivate provisional, educational, and bio-cultural resources for our campus by increasing the biodiversity, abundance, and succession of Native Hawaiian and Culturally relevant flora. Our mission is to mālama ʻāina: steward the land through the traditional and modern knowledge and practices of the Hawaiian people in relation to farming. We aim to utilize this landscape more intentionally, and more functionally to bring forth the abundance of ʻāina, and in a way that teaches and inspires kanaka to aloha + mālama ʻāina.

Lawelawe (Services)

ʻIke Honua/Pilina + Aloha ʻĀina: Hawaiian Ecological Knowledge and Environmental Kinship
Mālama ʻĀina: Service Learning & Community Service + Accreditationʻ
Hoʻoulu: Plant Propagation
Hoʻokipa Mai: Site Tour
Mana ʻAi + Lāʻau Lapaʻau: Hawaiian Food and Medicinal Practices

Check out the Contact Page on how to Stay Connected, or schedule a visit.