{"id":137734,"date":"2025-08-11T19:39:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T19:39:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/137734\/"},"modified":"2025-08-11T19:39:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T19:39:12","slug":"business-monday-hilo-farmland-protected-in-perpetuity-with-help-from-nonprofits-big-island-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/137734\/","title":{"rendered":"Business Monday: Hilo farmland protected in perpetuity with help from nonprofits : Big Island Now"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\n\"\"<\/a>The Pu\u2018u\u2018eo Mauka conservation easement protects 74.28 acres of productive agricultural land near Hilo, with more than $1.6 million raised to fund the effort. \u200b(Photo courtesy: O.K. Farms)<\/p>\n

O.K. Farms in Hilo, which had been owned by Ed Olson but operated by the Keolanui family, has been growing produce that feeds Hawai\u2018i Island and beyond for 20 years.<\/p>\n

Now, that mission to enhance local food security is assured with the Keolanui family purchasing more than 74 acres of the farm with help from the Hawai\u2018i Land Trust and Trust for Public Land. The purchase included establishing the Pu\u2018u\u2018eo Mauka conservation easement, which mandates the land remain a productive agricultural land in perpetuity.<\/p>\n

The land, which already is planted with fruit trees, was appraised at about $2.1 million. After the death of Olson in July 2024, the Edmund C. Olson Trust<\/a> honored its longstanding relationship with the Keolanui \u2018ohana by offering them the first opportunity to acquire the land for about $1.6 million.<\/p>\n

Troy Keolanui, co-founder and operations manager of O.K. Farms, said his family never would have been able to secure the land without help from the two nonprofits.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Keolanui family with the late Ed Olson, who is pictured front and center. (Photo Courtesy: O.K. Farms)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was going to end up in private hands that may or may not have stayed in agriculture, may or may not have been developed into something other than what it is now in perpetuity,\u201d Keolanui said.<\/p>\n

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The Keolanui family and Olson joined forces in 2002 to start O.K. Farms, located along the Wailuku River and Rainbow Falls, with a plan to perpetuate sustainable agriculture in Hawai\u2018i.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur mission here at O.K. Farms is to get people reconnected to the \u2018\u0101ina and to what\u2019s growing here in Hawai\u2018i,\u201d Keolanui said. \u201cWe can be an example of what sustainability really can look like.\u201d<\/p>\n

OK Farms is 320 acres. Outside of the recently secured 74-acre easement, Keolanui said the rest of the farmland is owned by himself and members of his family.<\/p>\n

O.K. Farms cultivates a variety of tropical fruits, including lychee, longan, rambutan and citrus, as well as spices such as cinnamon, allspice, cloves and nutmeg. The farm is one of the largest producers of tropical fruit in the United States. It also grows hearts of palm and its own brand of Rainbow Falls Hilo Coffee.<\/p>\n

The farm enhances local food security through farm boxes and community-supported agriculture programs. The family also puts local produce in homes across the state and in all the grocery stores through their partnership with Cisco Foods.<\/p>\n

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Overall, in fruit, Keolanui estimates the farm annually produces 400,000 pounds of fruit. Lychee is typically the farm\u2019s most productive crop, producing about 75,000 pounds a year.<\/p>\n

O.K. Farms is also associated with the Hawai\u02bbi Good Food Alliance<\/a> and a member of the Hawai\u2018i Food Hub Hui<\/a>, which are organizations committed to sharing the production and aggregation of locally grown foods and distributing them directly from farms to consumers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a really great way to get the food directly from the farms right to the people who are going to eat that food,\u201d Keolanui said. \u201cEliminate some of the middle work and the food is fresher, and gets to the people quicker.\u201d<\/p>\n

Part of the farm\u2019s efforts to connect the community to the land started three years ago, when they developed an agroforestry field with help from Hawai\u2018i \u2018Ulu Cooperative, an organization owned by more than 150 local farmers with breadfruit crops.<\/p>\n

Starting with a five-acre block, Keolanui said the farm opened it up to monthly community work days where keiki to k\u016bpuna can come and connect with the land.<\/p>\n

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Keolanui said securing the easement hits every part of the mission statement by the Olson Trust.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all about supporting sustainable agriculture, protecting the natural resources and investing in Hawai\u2019i\u2019s people,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd this one hits all three right on the head.\u201d<\/p>\n

Olu Campbell, president and CEO of Hawai\u2018i Land Trust, said the organization\u2019s goal is closely aligned with Keolanui in terms of connecting people with the \u2018\u0101ina and the value that doing that creates both for the health of Hawai\u2018i Island and the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to see that same vision come to fruition and to the extent that we could be helpful in bringing that to life, by playing a small part in helping to get this conservation easement closed,\u201d Campbell said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Pu\u2018ueo Mauka easement secured within O.K. Farms in Hilo. (Photo courtesy: Trust for Public Land)<\/p>\n

Lea Hong, associate vice president and Hawai\u2018i state director for Trust for Public Land, said the Pu\u2018u\u2018eo Mauka represents a model for community-driven conservation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis collaboration keeps Hawai\u2018i\u2019s agricultural lands working, supports local farmers, and safeguards our island\u2019s cultural and natural heritage for generations to come,\u201d Hong said, expressing her gratitude to the Edmund C. Olson Trust for working with the trusts to ensure these lands remain in agriculture forever.<\/p>\n

Campbell said the trust has helped secure or purchased outright more than 10 agricultural, natural or cultural resources easements.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also have sites on Hawai\u2018i Island that we own ourselves and self-steward; one in Mahukuana and then another right above Hilo, we call her Kukuau Forest Reserve.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pu\u2018u\u2018eo Mauka conservation easement protects 74.28 acres of productive agricultural land near Hilo, with more than $1.6…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":137735,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[72370,14887,14888,82631,82632,746,82633,82634,82635,159,82636,82637,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-137734","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-agricultural-land","9":"tag-big-island-news","10":"tag-big-island-now","11":"tag-business-monday","12":"tag-edmund-olson-trust","13":"tag-environment","14":"tag-hawaii-land-trust","15":"tag-o-k-farms","16":"tag-puueo-mauka-conservation-easement","17":"tag-science","18":"tag-troy-keolanui","19":"tag-trust-for-public-land","20":"tag-united-states","21":"tag-unitedstates","22":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115011831031494539","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137734"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137734\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}