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When you come into Limahuli,

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you're gonna see plants that you see

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nowhere else in the world.

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All of this biodiversity is the foundation

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that Hawaiian culture was built on.

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I hear the voices of the old Hawaiians

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talking about how special this place is

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and pushing me to really[br]care for this place.

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(tranquil music)

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Limahuli Garden Preserve is[br]a 1,000 acre botanical garden

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and nature preserve[br]situated on the North Shore

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on the island of Kauai[br]in the Hawaiian islands.

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My job is to basically garner[br]support for our protection

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of this place and the[br]restoration of this valley.

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Some of the plants that we have now,

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they're so rare that you have[br]to go on a four mile hike

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deep into the valley or risk your life

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and climb one of those[br]peaks to get to them.

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One of the examples of that[br]is this plant called olena,

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which is the second[br]strongest fiber in the world.

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Now that plant is pretty rare,

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and they only exist way deep back

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in the wet valleys of the island.

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Within the context of[br]the Hawaiian culture,

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every plant has a name.

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When a plant goes extinct,

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that's a part of our language that dies.

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It's our job to make sure that they

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stick around for a future generation.

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So this tree right here,

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this is a really[br]important tree culturally.

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It's a hardwood, it's the second[br]hardest wood in the forest.

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Its name is uhiuhi.

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It's down to two trees left[br]on the island of Kauai,

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so this is one tree that you're not

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gonna really find anywhere else.

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200 years ago, all of these[br]plants were all around.

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The community was[br]actively cultivating them,

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but there's been a huge[br]disconnect in the past 200 years

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between the community and[br]the resources of the valley.

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This is actually the state flower.

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Unfortunately, our state flower is down

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to just a handful of[br]individuals in the wild.

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So it’s kind of a[br]pretty strong statement

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of the state of affairs[br]of our native plants.

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I can feel the rare[br]plants calling for help.

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We talk about sustainability nowadays.

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We don't have to reinvent the wheel.

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The ancient Hawaiians did it.

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They were doing it for[br]a millennium at least.

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In Hawaiian culture always[br]try to be at a point

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where you've given more than you've taken.

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That resource management system

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is viable in the 21st century to address

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a lot of the problems we're[br]dealing with nowadays.

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If we're engaging with the ocean,

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we don't just go down there and fish.

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We build fish houses so[br]that there's more habitat

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for the fish to live in.

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And in the forest, you go[br]and take care of the place,

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make sure that the plants[br]are healthy before you gather

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and then before you leave,

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you replant behind you so that[br]there's more for tomorrow.

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If you take responsibility for something,

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and then you have a right to access it.

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(tranquil music)

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Humanity doesn't have to[br]be separated from nature,

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and there are ways for[br]humanity to engage nature

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such that both benefit.

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This place can be a model.

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It can be a model of how[br]humanity is connected to nature

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and that is probably the most[br]important story in Hawaiian culture.