Enhanced VolunteerIn traditional times, Heʻeia, represented one of the most extensive areas of wetland taro cultivation on Oʻahu (Handy, Handy & Pukui, 1972). Through the mid-1930s, the Heʻeia wetlands were a thriving agricultural landscape, producing volumes of kalo, a nutrient-dense dietary staple for Hawaiians, and creating opportunities for social and economic advancement for the families of Heʻeia and Kāneʻohe.
As shown in a 1928 aerial image, the Heʻeia Wetlands once supported over 300-acres of wetland kalo and contained at least three commercial processing facilities (poi mills). The active, ongoing cultivation of kalo at Hoi also served a critical role in the hydrology of the Heʻeia Watershed, mitigating the effects of terrestrial runoff on adjacent estuarine and inshore coral reef ecosystems of Kāneʻohe Bay.