Hawaiian Ahupua'a Food System Restoration Revives Ancient Terraces Feeding Communities Through Indigenous Water Management

Native Hawaiian communities have uncovered and begun restoring hundreds of stone terraces beneath invasive eucalyptus forests in mountain valleys, reconstructing the traditional ahupua'a gravity-fed water system that requires no pumps, irrigates kalo (taro) gardens and fish ponds, and filters pollutants while supporting native ʻoʻopu fish—addressing both food sovereignty and historical trauma from 1848 land privatization.