Introduction

Day 8 consisted of an intense day of tours and interviews starting with the Holualoa Kona Coffee Company and ending with Melora Purell presenting the Kohala Watershed Patnership Restoration project.  We finished the day with a Lū`au.  We started early, driving on Hwy 180 over the 20 mile stretch of the Kona coffee belt. We then traveled to Waimea to see the Watershed Partnership and finally made our way back to Kailua, Kona for the Lū`au at the Royal Kona Resort. We learned a lot, we saw the coffee making processes from seed to cup, and then had an enlightening conversation with Melora on importance of watersheds, especially on the Big Island.  

Volunteer work is essential to the Kohala Watershed Patnership Restoration project, the stairs were made by volunteers using wood from the tree sanctuary (refer to Figure 1). This incorporates a piece of the land into a man-made nature trail to educate people on the importance of preserving watersheds around the world.

Figure 1. We walked through the tree sanctuary at the Kohala Watershed Partnership. Photo by Ellen Sorenson