This article focuses on hala as a coastal keystone species across in Hawai‘i, co-dependent on anthropogenic caretakers, providing a jumping-off-point for bioculturalengagement with coastal conservation. This piece brings ethnohistoric knowledge from the Hawaiian communities of the Puna district, Hawai‘i Island beside kilo (to observe) and mo‘olelo (stories). This piece considers the decline of hala forests on the slopes of Hawai‘i Island as a story of the interwoven ethos of reciprocal care and cultivation of Indigenous peoples and coastal forests.
