Effort to preserve Ka Iwi entering the homestretch

Less than 10 miles from Oahu’s blinding high-rises and the thick, sour smells of the city, the Ka Iwi Coastline sits unspoiled and full of secrets.

You can pull off the highway just past Sandy Beach, walk a short way through Awawamalu — the area also known as Alan Davis — across the sand and past the naupaka, and get to a place where the waves and wind are all you hear, where the salt spray and the musky sand scent the wind and a distant line of utility poles is the only mark of the modern world.

That this stretch of shining waves and sun-soaked views hasn’t become multimillion-dollar houses and tourism-related development is a miracle.

No, not a miracle. It is the work of human will and decades of tenacity.

In 1972 people organized opposition to a huge resort planned for the eastern tip of the island. Over the years there have been proposals for luxury homes, resort cabins, a golf academy and more. At every turn the community fought to keep the land natural and wild.

Earlier this week an afternoon rainstorm came ashore and broke the August heat. State archaeologist Regina Hilo pulled on a raincoat and led the way along the shoreline. She pointed out features of the landscape, spoke of burials in the sand, but kept coming back to the point that much of Ka Iwi has yet to be studied.

“There is extensive evidence indicative of a sustainable population here,” Hilo said. “We’d like to investigate, to inventory the historic properties. To have the last stretch of undeveloped land — it’s hard to find that on Oahu.”

The nonprofit Livable Hawaii Kai Hui has until Aug. 30 to raise half a million dollars to complete the purchase of two mauka parcels in the area, thus ensuring conservation of the entire plain in perpetuity.

In the weeks leading up to the deadline, people offered what they could, like in the old days when upland farmers and shoreline fishers came together to feed everyone.

Bubbie’s in Hawaii Kai hosted an ice cream social with proceeds going to the cause. Lo Kaimuloa from Riches in Kahala Mall pledged a portion of every sale to the fund. Four families from Waimanalo saw people waving signs along Kalanianaole and decided they could help by pulling together a fundraiser with music and food at Olomana Golf Course.

A shaper donated a koa bodyboard that he had made for his children. He told his kids that instead of having the board, they would have the beach and the waves for their own children.

Those who donated have done so with a common vision. It won’t be the sort of project where they can point out their name on a brick in the sidewalk, but they can drive along that coast 40 years from now and tell the grandkids, “I remember when they were fighting to keep away the development. I was part of that.”

The first donation came in June 5. Since then 1,178 people have joined in to help. If they come up short, backup plans are in place.

On the morning of Aug. 31, all the people who came together to save Ka Iwi — the stalwarts who fought for Sandy Beach all those years ago, the kids from Kaiser High School who held signs along Kalanianaole in the summer heat, surfers and hikers, kamaaina and malihini — will gather for a sunrise ceremony. The exact location along the coast is still being decided, as are the particulars of what the ceremony will entail, but what is certain is that a new day will dawn along that dramatic, wild coastline, and there is gratitude for that.

For information or to donate, go to www.kaiwicoast.com.

Reach Lee Cataluna at 529-4315 or email lcataluna@staradvertiser.com.