East Maui Watershed Partnership

Waterfalls, Kipahulu Valley
© Peter Menzel

In late 1999, the Conservancy's Board of Governors chose the East Maui Watershed Partnership to receive the organization's highest honor: The President's Conservation Achievement Award. This award is given to an individual or organization that works in partnership with The Nature Conservancy to advance biodiversity protection. Out of all the partnerships in which the Conservancy is involved globally, only six receive this award annually.

The East Maui Watershed Partnership has pioneered a model for protecting large landscapes quickly and efficiently. Before this partnership, the Conservancy had helped protect 50,000 acres in Hawai`i. This one project alone brings active management to more than 100,000 acres of critical watershed and native forest habitat.

Our Approach
The East Maui Watershed Partnership (EMWP) was formed in 1991 through the joint initiative of the State Department of Land and Natural Resources, The Nature Conservancy, the County of Maui - Board of Water Supply, Haleakala Ranch Co., East Maui Irrigation Co., Ltd., Haleakala National Park, and Hana Ranch. Since its formation, the EMWP has made significant strides to control Miconia calvenscens and has built strategic, upper-elevation fences to control feral pigs.

"Perhaps the most important reason the Conservancy recognized the partnership is for its role as a model for similar partnerships throughout Hawai`i, including the West Maui Mountains Watershed Partnership, the East Moloka`i Watershed Partnership, and the Ko`olau Watershed Partnership on O`ahu," said Suzanne Case, Executive Director of the Hawai`i Chapter. "By working together as neighbors, under a unified management plan, we exponentially expand the effort that each group can make to protect East Maui's natural resources."

How the Partnership Will Help the Watershed

Native ferns and shrubs, Hawaiian montane bog

The East Maui watershed is home to at least 63 rare plant species and a greater concentration of rare and endangered birds than any other place in the United States. It is also the largest source of harvested surface water in Hawai`i, providing more than 60 billion gallons of fresh water to East and Central Maui's agricultural, residential, and commercial economies. The Conservancy's 5,230 acre Waikamoi Preserve is a part of the East Maui watershed.

Partners

The Nature Conservancy
State Department of Land and Natural Resources
County of Maui
County of Maui Department of Water Supply
East Maui Irrigation Co., Ltd.
Haleakala National Park
Haleakala Ranch Co.
Hana Ranch