VAC inherited Niaulani upon securing a 65-year lease from the State of Hawaii in 1996. It had been designated a Forest Reserve beginning in the 1920’s due to its old growth koa and ohia canopy, and part of the contractual agreement was for our organization to continue the generational legacy of stewardship set forth by state foresters. While Niaulani supported old-growth trees that had been historically harvested for various purposes elsewhere in the Kilauea Summit region, much work had to be done eliminating invasive plant and animal species on the forest floor to bolster its overall biodiversity. VAC constituents, comprised of local artisans and naturalists, began tending to the land years before educational facilities were built on the periphery of the five acre forest. For more information on the history of the Niaulani program, click here.