In Hawaiʻi, the word kīpuka describes islands of forest spared by lava flows, refuges of life that provide the foundation for regrowth after destruction. The term also evokes places where Hawaiian culture, worldviews, and practices remain intact: coral reefs, loko iʻa (fishponds), streams, agricultural terraces, and entire watersheds that are cared for by community groups, called ʻāina hui. These kīpuka embody biocultural resilience, where human and ecological relationships co-produce abundance.

Drawing on more than 50 interviews, this research explores how ʻāina hui are caring for kīpuka across Hawaiʻi over time, providing an understanding of the broader landscape of this movement of communities returning to care for their places in Hawaiʻi.

Findings reveal how ʻāina hui are restoring, protecting, and reimagining stewardship across an archipelago, through ecological restoration, education, and more. Our findings also highlight areas of vibrant community care and what that care looks like over time. They also corroborate calls from other researchers and community members for increased access to long-term funding, formalized governance authority, and capacity for more collaboration across connected kīpuka in a social-ecological system. We also suggest actionable steps to operationalize these recommendations.

Guided by the priorities and insights of local partners, this work centers Indigenous methodologies and ethics of reciprocity. It uplifts the visibility of ʻāina hui, supports cultural resurgence, and offers a transferable model for collaborative, place-based research that deepens our collective understanding of biocultural resilience and the human-place relationships that sustain it.