Recent coverage regarding the Hawaiian Memorial Park expansion loses sight of the fact that this project is about much more than just a cemetery. It’s an opportunity to preserve our cultural heritage and provide open space for the environment while balancing the need for more interment space on Oahu.

As kupuna from Kaneohe, we’ve dedicated much of our lives to supporting native Hawaiian causes and the community where generations of our families were raised.

It’s why we’re passionately supportive of the new proposed Hawaiian Memorial Park cemetery expansion.

Ten years ago, we were at the front lines opposing the previous expansion plan. Since that time, Hawaiian Memorial Park has worked with the community and completely revised its proposed project in response to concerns.

The new plan significantly reduces the active cemetery area, expands buffer zones, establishes a cultural preserve, and would even convey the entire 156-acre parcel into a conservation easement to ensure no further development on Hawaiian Memorial Park’s land.

This plan should be lauded and utilized as an example for others to follow. Instead, a small group of NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) opponents would rather see the project fail, and in the process, lose the opportunity to create a legacy for Native Hawaiians and the broader community.

These opponents have intentionally ignored or downplayed a crucial element of the new plan, the establishment of a 14.5-acre cultural preserve for a historically and culturally significant site on the property — Kawa‘ewa‘e heiau, built in the 12th century.

It’s vital to understand that if Hawaiian Memorial Park’s expansion and the associated cultural preserve are not approved, this important cultural treasure may be lost forever to further degradation and destruction. Time and human impacts have already taken their toll. The site’s been overgrown with invasive species, trampled by hikers and vandalized by trespassers.

To reverse this trend, kupuna and cultural practitioners have been working with Hawaiian Memorial Park for the past few years to establish a partnership for the restoration and preservation of Kawa‘ewa‘e. This effort resulted in a resolution by the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs supporting the cultural preserve as part of the expansion.

This process will require significant resources, however, and Hawaiian Memorial Park has stepped up to contribute both land and money to this endeavor.

The conservation easement is another unprecedented component of the plan. It may be the first time that an entire development project will be conveyed to a nonprofit entity to ensure the area is protected in perpetuity.

Opponents have also suggested the project should be stopped because a rare damselfly has been discovered on the property.

Once again, they’ve failed to recognize that halting the project is not a solution. The reality is that without the expansion, there will be no safeguards for this threatened species. Like Kawa‘ewa‘e Heiau, the damselfly’s habitat would be at risk from human impacts, invasive species or even flooding and drought.

Hawaiian Memorial Park has committed to establishing a plan to protect the habitat and the species. It will even include habitat preservation measures and species monitoring to ensure the population of damselflies is protected on an ongoing basis from various threats.

The Hawaiian Memorial Park plan is unique. The cemetery is only a small part of the project area — less than 20% of the parcel, in fact. The vast majority of the project is meant to benefit the community both culturally and environmentally.

That’s why so many support this plan. For our mo‘opuna (grandchildren), our community and for this sacred place, this may be the last chance to realize the vision for the cultural preserve.

Leialoha “Aunty Rocky” Kaluhiwa and “Aunty Alice” Hewitt are kupuna of Ko‘olaupoko, lifelong residents of Kaneohe, and direct descendants from the ahupua‘a.