The Kawainui Marsh State Wildlife Sanctuary in Kailua on Oahu includes 830 acres. It’s the largest freshwater wetland in all of Hawaii and residential to a number of endangered native species. It is usually residence to the Ulupo Heiau, the biggest historic agricultural temple on the island. Kawainui Marsh is a pure surprise.
Kailua is a well-liked Oahu customer vacation spot. Kailua Seashore and close by Lanikai Beach appeal to enormous numbers of beachgoers every day, and for good purpose. Constantly light waters and fantastic white sand beneath whispering ironwood pines are the proper circumstances for a day on the seaside. Lanikai largely lacks pure shade (and obtainable parking), however that could be a characteristic wanted by sun-worshipping guests and residents.
Kailua’s retail district is residence to dozens of domestically owned eating places, clothiers, and galleries. It’s a busy hive of commerce, a spot that could be thought-about a sort of “satellite tv for pc Waikiki”. Guests on rented bicycles meander streets and bike paths from morning to nighttime. It’s, in a phrase, “touristy”. Most guests will move by Kawainui Marsh on their manner into Kailua City and its close by leisure seashores with out noticing it.
Adjoining to all of that industrial and leisure exercise is the elegant calm of Kawainui Marsh. It’s an oasis of thriving pure vegetation and animal life. It’s the beating coronary heart of an historic ecosystem. The levee there, simply over a mile lengthy, was constructed in 1966 to mitigate residential flooding. It’s a standard footpath for informal strollers, dog-walkers, and health buffs.
Intensive Metropolis, State, Federal, and civilian restoration efforts through the years have rescued a lot of the marsh from invasive plant species and returned native crops to areas as soon as misplaced to overgrowth. Kawainui Marsh is residence to the endangered ‘alae ‘ula, or Hawaiian Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus sandvicensis).
The opposite endangered fowl species in Kawainui Marsh have confronted the identical threats: habitat loss, invasive crops, avian illness, environmental contaminants (a municipal dump is adjoining), and predation by feral canines, cats, mongoose…even bullfrogs. Preservation and restoration efforts are ongoing, and a as soon as bleak future for Kawainui grows brighter with every invasive plant eliminated and every native species returned.
“Kawainui” interprets as “the nice water”. The world was as soon as residence to a 450-acre fishpond and taro crop, a useful resource managed by historic Hawaiians courting again to the 13th century. It’s mentioned to be the house of the divine Hauwahine, protectress of the land and the waters inside.
‘Ulupo, the sacred temple, is presently being restored together with the taro patch and native crops by the native nonprofit Kauluakalana. Its partitions as soon as reached 30 toes excessive, and legend holds that it was constructed by magical menehune, who handed its stones from as distant as Waianae on Oahu’s Leeward Coast hand-to-hand.
We’ll suggest that any customer journey to Kailua ought to embody an expertise at Kawainui Marsh, whether or not you go to Kailua for it’s for the seashores, the purchasing, or the eating. The truth is, there are numerous “volun-teerism” alternatives all year long as preservation and conservation work is ongoing. The individuals behind these efforts can be pleased to see you.
And we right here at Hawaii Aloha Journey can be pleased to attach you with them.
Posted by: Jamie Winpenny
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