Ed Olson, Honored by The Nature Conservancy

Edmund C. Olson

Ka'u Landowner, Philanthropist, and Ka'u Coffee Mill Founder Ed Olson has donated $500,000 to The Nature Conservancy to protect native forests of Ka'u and South Kona, which provide critical habitat for many of the island’s endangered forest birds. The Nature Conservancy hailed Olson as “quietly becoming one of the state’s leading conservationists.” In 2009, Olson helped acquire 6,500 acres in the Waianae Mountains on O`ahu from the James Campbell Company to keep the land in agricultural and preservation. Olson gave part of this land to the state to create the Honouliuli Forest Reserve.

He also put more than 900 acres mauka of Honu'apo into permanent conservation easements to prevent development, including multiple residences, commercial structures, roads or power lines, The Nature Conservancy statement says. The easements also safeguard the property’s numerous cultural sites and pockets of healthy wildlife habitats. They are managed by the Hawai'i Islands Land Trust.

This was the second time Olson has helped preservation interests in the Honu'apo ahupua'a. In 2006, he donated $50,000 through the Trust for Public Land to protect the area’s historic fishponds and acquire lands around Honu'apo to be put into public ownership.

Olson also supports the macadamia and coffee industries and leases out land to farmers for diversified agriculture.

Remembering the Plantation Days

Sugar truck is decorated in flowers, ti leaves and cane to
open Ka'u Plantation Days.  Photo by Michael Neal

Ka'u Coffee Mill welcomes visitors from Plantation Days to enjoy a free tour of the coffee mill.

Ka'u Plantation Days, in Pahala, brings together not only many people from many communities with stories of the past, but many maps, books, photos, charts and other documents from the many ethnic communities who settled here. One special request is for people to bring in any old photos of school gardens of Pahala and Na'alehu.

An old sugar cane truck will be fired up and on display. Displaced sugar worker Manuel Marques, who operated a crane at the sugar mill, will show off his new business, growing and selling Ka'u Coffee. He will serve it to the public and talk about his transition from sugar to award-winning Ka'u Coffee.

Honu'apo Pier, where sugar was loaded onto ships.

The event will be held at Pahala Plantation House from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

2011 marks the 15th anniversary of the closing of the Ka'u sugar mill. The anniversary will celebrate history of the plantation and the evolution of agriculture in Ka'u. Lunch will celebrate the town’s diversity with Filipino, Hawaiian, Portuguese, and Japanese food. Displays of Chinese life and the other ethnic groups form the town will be at stations around the yard and in the house. There will be Portuguese and Filipino dancing and singing throughout the day, a video on the last cane harvest in Pahala and a slide show of old photos from plantation days.

Visitors to Plantation Days will also be able to take a tour of the new Ka'u Coffee Mill during the afternoon.