MAUI VISITORS BUREAU PROUDLY PRESENTS MĀLAMA MAUI, PRESERVING MAUI'S AGRICULTURAL & CULTURAL RESOURCES

MAUI, Hawaiʻi – With this update of the Mālama Maui Campaign, the Maui Visitors Bureau extends an invitation to you to experience Maui Nui in all its authenticity.

Mālama means to care for, to preserve, to protect, in the Hawaiian language. Maui Nui includes the islands of Maui, Molokaʻi and Lānaʻi. The campaign appeals to travelers who enjoy learning about the history, natural environment and living culture of a place, travelers who want to immerse themselves in the rich heritage that makes a destination unique. This type of travel has been called agritourism or ecotourism, yet Mālama Maui reaches beyond these labels, asking visitors to experience what most Maui residents value above all – aloha ʻāina or love of the land.

On personal, community, business, and government levels, numerous people in Maui Nui practice Mālama Maui daily. They are committed to reverse a pattern of loss that began with Captain Cook's arrival in 1778. For two whole centuries, natural and cultural treasures have been neglected, suppressed, or ignored. Yet a deep sense of interdependence infuses the Hawaiian spirit, and a new energy has surged forward to preserve, protect, and perpetuate the heritage of Maui. Grassroots efforts have taken off and multiplied.

Today, these efforts include:
• Protection of Maui's endangered native habitats on land and in the ocean
• Participation in the renaissance of Hawaiian culture
• Preservation of the legacy of the plantations and the local culture they forged
• Movement toward a sustainable lifestyle based on an agricultural heritage

Visitors to Maui Nui have a role to play in restoring the balance. In visiting authentic Maui – the places that convey its heritage – they become participants. In knowing that the Hawaiian islands are important to the planet, they may even become champions for preservation initiatives themselves.

"When we poll our visitors, they nearly always say that natural beauty and local culture are what draw them to Maui," says Terryl Vencl, executive director, Maui Visitors Bureau. "By acknowledging aspects of Maui that are valued and often vulnerable, Mālama Maui supports the ambitions of our people while enriching the experience of our visitors."

Thus, while Mālama Maui showcases the dramatic history, rich culture, and precious ecology of Maui Nui through attractions available to visitors, it also raises awareness of this fragile heritage. The campaign seeks to preserve, perpetuate, and protect Maui Nui's unique wealth – to the sustainability of Island life.

In this Mālama Maui press kit packed with insidersʻ tips, you'll learn about the heritage of Maui Nui, which embraces a unique environment of natural wonders, Hawaiian and local cultural traditions that belong to the Island, and a legacy of agriculture that has spanned close to 1700 years. Discover how Maui's small town charms say "You are on Maui, not in Anywhere, USA."

The kit is divided into four parts:
• The natural environment – Maui's ecology
• The cultural environment - Hawaiian culture and values
• The local culture of Maui Nui – The effect of two centuries of change
• Sustainability efforts – Modern farming and agricultural values of Maui

Quite naturally, the four parts overlap. The interdependence that islanders experience with their environment offers a recurring theme. From earliest times, agriculture has been vital to islanders' survival. Cultivation of the land, the ʻāina, has influenced the natural, cultural and demographic makeup of the islands. In ancient times, the distance between farm and meal was no larger than the ahupuaʻa, the land division that stretched from the mountain to the ocean and provided a community with all its needs. During the centuries of change, impoverished foreigners, mostly from Asia, uprooted themselves from their home countries in the hope that agriculture in Hawaiʻi might improve their fate. Today, having felt the grave consequences of global change and the lengthening distance between table and farm, island agriculture once again is seeking to sustain. The distance is shortening once more. Wise use of the land is all-important.

If all goes well, the 21st century will witness how Maui Nui grassroots efforts prove successful in restoring the delicate balance that makes both humans and nature thrive.

Respected native Hawaiian cultural leader Charles Kaʻupu and native Hawaiian healer Kahu Kapiʻiohoʻokalani Lyons Naone are two of the key spokespersons for the Mālama Maui campaign.

Kaʻupu, whose family comes from the Island of Molokaʻi, became a kumu hula (dance teacher) as early as 1979 and has spent the better part of his teaching the sacred Hawaiian cultural arts. An accomplished master of Hawaiian chant, Kaʻupu performs with the world-renowned musical troupe HAPA. (www.hapa.com)

Naone is a noted Hawaiian practitioner of the cultural healing arts, and the founder and director of Kumu Aʻo, a non-profit organization whose mission it is to protect and perpetuate Native Hawaiian cultural teachings, language, and healing practices, as well as to develop and implement projects of cultural and historical significance. (www.kahu-naone.com)

Welcome to the real Maui, recognized in thirteen consecutive Conde Nast Travelers' polls as "Best Island in the World." We invite you to be inspired by what it means to Mālama Maui.