Hawaii Volcanoes National Park just grew by 222 acres, but it wasn’t the Kilauea lava flow that extended its borders.

The Nature Conservancy on Thursday announced it was transferring to the National Park Service the land that extends along 1.6 miles of the Hawaii Belt Road between Ocean View and Naalehu.

“Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is thrilled to add this priority conservation habitat to our Kahuku Unit,” park Superintendent Cindy Orlando said in a news release.

Once part of Kahuku Ranch, the land contains rare dryland forest plants, native birds and insects, and a lava tube system. There is also a trailhead for the historic Kahuku-Ainapo trail network and the old Mamalahoa Highway, a historic road bordered by a rock wall, an artifact of cattle ranching.

Orlando said the land transfer supports the park’s mission to protect the island’s natural and cultural resources and biodiversity. She added that the park is exploring ways to make it accessible to park visitors.

Shalan Crysdale, the Nature Conservancy’s Hawaii island program director, said volunteers and staff members have already cleared the parcel of more than 40 acres of invasive weeds.

In 2003, the organization and the National Park Service combined to purchase the 116,000-acre Kahuku Ranch. It doubled the size of the park to more than 333,000 acres.

Established in 1916, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park stretches from sea level to the summit of Mauna Loa. The lava flow from Kilauea has added nearly a square mile of land to Hawaii island since it began erupting again in 1983.