The Mauna Kea Cloudforest Bioreserve

a 501(c)3 (pending) non-profit dedicated to regenerative farming, biodiversity, forestry and conservation

The Philosophy Behind The Bioreserve

The Mauna Kea Cloudforest Bioreserve is an educational non-profit farm aimed at teaching regenerative agriculture and forestry, conservation horticulture and Zen practice. Our goal is to help us transform Hawaii into a vibrant ecosystem of small regenerative family farms invigorated by an ecotourism model that nourishes and sustains the ‘aina, promotes a mindful society, and respects Hawaii’s indigenous roots.

Our Mission Statement: Our purpose is to educate and connect people to botany, regenerative farming and each other. The Bioreserve focuses on preservation of Biodiversity, regenerative agroforestry and on mindfulness and the significance of interbeing with the Earth’s biological diversity to support the health and wellbeing of all people and the planet.

Regenerative agriculture is our central tenet: it means that all the activities on the farm regenerate both the soil, the environment and the atmosphere. It means that while the farm produces crops, the riparian corridor runs free from runoff, wildlife and natural pollinators flourish and instead of emissions, the farm pulls carbon out of the atmosphere and sequesters it in the ground. All this can be achieved thanks to indigenous knowledge and modern science. 

Our farm aims to be an example of what a successful small farm can be along the Hamakua Coast. To bring about economic success for a small farm requires a diversity of activities. The mosaic that makes up the farm includes acreage dedicated to crops and livestock, resources for both daytime and overnight tourism, a forest preserve and space for community development. The heart of our farm is a 9 acre forest preserve along the Kikala River with a cascade of waterfalls. This forest serves as a repository for endangered plants from around the world mixed in with native Hawaiian plants and is home to native Hawaiian hawks (‘io) and native Hawaiian owls (Pue’o). 

An additional 5 acres are dedicated to crops farmed using a variety of intensive regenerative agricultural practices such as no-till, nitrogen-fixing cover crops and hop and drop silviculture, rapid nutrient cycling using livestock and synergistic companion cropping, which is effectively the opposite of monocropping.

The Riparian Corridor

One of the elements that makes our farm unique is the riparian corridor that forms the center of the farm. This puts conservation and regenerative agriculture at the forefront as it is the only way to preserve the beauty of the Kikala river that flows through the farm.

The Tenets of Regenerative Agriculture

The way to a sustainable future needs to be straight forward for anyone to understand so it’s important to keep things simple. While the details matter, the basics really just boil down to three principles: no till, minimize external inputs and build a healthy farm ecology.  

no Till

By minimizing the soil disturbance and mulching aggressively, we maximize the natural ecology of the soil by promoting healthy soil bacteria and mycelium

minimal external inputs

Growing our own nitrogen fixing cover crops and chop-and-drop silviculture to generate the required nutrients to grow crops .

healthy ecology

No mono-crops, instead maximize biodiversity with lots of companion planting and islands of pristine nature for pollinator and beneficial predator habitat

The Mosaic That Creates A Healthy Small Family Farm

Healthy and productive crop fields take time to create and become an economic powerhouse with the right  practices such as repeated crop rotations with no-till and cover crop techniques, If the soil is healthy, the fields will produce a real bounty. 

The practice of keeping livestock for manure  accelerates nutrient cycling and provides a source of rich fertilizer for the farm. If managed properly, the livestock will yield additional profits from eggs, milk and meat and the livestock can be fed efficiently from the farm’s green manure production and efficient rotational grazing practices. 

Farms cannot be successful beyond an acre without additional help. Farms need infrastructure for visiting farm help in the form of additional farm dwellings like cabins and glamping structures and facilities where the farm community can gather such as a community hall. It also helps to galvanize your community around philosophical principles and tenets. At our farm we use Zen practice to build community.

Fruit trees are often not a very profitable crop unless you have many acres to plant, vegetable crops often fetch much higher prices for small acreages. However, fruit trees really create a vibrancy on the farm and can be integrated into a CSA to complement vegetables, and are a valuable part of food crops for the community on the farm. 

If you want to bring crops to market, you will at the very least need to have a basic certified washing facility. Value addded products bring more money to the farm, so as your farm grows, consider adding a comercial kitchen where you can prepare value added products. 

Cover crops usually aren’t enough to really power a healthy farm. In high rainfall areas, chop-and-drop silivculture for ongoing mulch production is critical. If done with the right equipment such as a flail mower to grind up dropped branches, the labor costs are insignificant. (Hint: using a mulcher is too labor intensive.)

Wildlife islands like small nature preserves and pollinator boundaries can provide critical habitat for much needed pollinators and beneficial predators that can greatly reduce the needs for pesticides.

The road to a successful regenerative farm is long and requires financial solvency. Visitor farm stays can provide the extra income to provide the much needed runway to ramp up all the relevant practices on the farm. Set aside a guest house or a couple of glamping cabins so that you can bring in additonal revenue for your farm.

Even if timber isn’t one of your desired crops, it’s still useful to grow timber on the farm. The trees harbor useful predators like hawks and owls and you never know when you might need extra timber for firewood or construction.

Not every farm wants a nursery, but it sure saves money not to have to buy every single plant from an outside nursery. A nurdsery is also critical to for producing vegetable starts that might not get going easily from direct seeding.