Keeper of the Bay: Protecting Kahaluʻu
Wednesday, April 6, 2022
5:30-6:30 PM (HST)
Cynthia “Cindi” Punihaole hails from the Kona coast of Hawaiʻi Island, where her ʻohana has served as Hawaiian practitioners, teachers, and stewards since the mid-1800s. Growing up in the 1950s, she remembers flourishing coral reef at Kahaluʻu—a rich landscape that sustained families for generations. Tragically, increasing development and tourism have threatened the Bay’s ecological health and native species. As Director of the Kahaluʻu Bay Education Center (KBEC), Cindi is doing her part to create a new legacy of keepers that will care for the land and sea as she and her kūpuna have for centuries. In our virtual talk-story with Aunty Cindi, she shares the history of Kahaluʻu Bay, her advocacy work to save its coral reef, and current trends and policy affecting our coasts.
Since 2007, Cindi has served as Kohala Center Director of The Kahalu‘u Bay Education Center (KBEC). She oversees all programs and activities of KBEC and works with County, State, and Federal officials to facilitate the conservation and restoration of Kahalu‘u Beach Park and its near shore environment. She also assists other communities around Hawaiʻi to develop community‐based education and conservation projects of this sort. Cindi’s long history of successful community development and public education experience was recognized when she received the Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce Pualu Award for outstanding work in Culture and Heritage. Cindi holds a BA degree in Sociology from Richard Stockton State College.