The Ola Hou Forest Carbon Project is Hawaiʻi’s first state-led initiative to generate carbon credits through native forest restoration. Launched in 2015 in the Kahikinui and Nakula reserves of East Maui, this nearly 400-acre effort aims to reforest degraded lands with native koa and ʻōhiʻa, creating "new life" (Ola Hou) while leveraging voluntary carbon markets via third-party verification through Verra’s standards.
Students and educators can:
Map and analyze project zones: review reforested areas using project maps.
Explore co-benefits like watershed health, biodiversity protection, and erosion control alongside carbon sequestration.
Model carbon sequestration using planting data (250,000+ seedlings) and project area metrics.
Simulate carbon credit processes: understand measurement, verification (by Aster Global), and credit issuance steps
Native forest restoration (kao & ōhiʻa) and ecosystem health
Carbon cycle science and climate action through nature-based solutions
Ecosystem co-benefits: water quality, soil stability, renewable jobs
Environmental economics: carbon markets and voluntary credit trading
Restoration logistics: fencing, invasive removal, seedling planting, long-term monitoring
