Merrie Monarch Festival announces 3-year pause on wild harvesting of three native plants for lei

HONOLULU (Hawaii News Now) — Organizers of the Merrie Monarch Festival and prominent kumu hula and master lei makers have announced a three-year pause on wild harvesting three essential native Hawaiian forest plants traditionally used for lei: maile, palapalai, and ʻōhiʻa lehua.

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The pause takes effect immediately and runs through the 2027 festival — scheduled for the week of March 29 — and beyond, in response to mounting concerns over widespread damage and depletion in native forests.

Festival leaders emphasized that the decision is not a total ban on the plants, but rather an urgent measure to allow native ecosystems time to regenerate.

Protecting fragile native forests

Merrie Monarch Festival President Luana Kawelu and kumu hula and 2027 Merrie Monarch judge Vicky Holt Takamine told Hawaii News Now that the policy came out of a recent Honolulu meeting between festival organizers, judges, and participating kumu hula.

“When they go to gather in the forest now, it’s so hard,” Kawelu said. “People are picking, they pull out the roots instead of just plucking what they need, and they’re depleting our forests. Our message is we want the forest to be able to heal for the future, future generations. If we deplete everything, shame on us.”

Kawelu stressed that the appeal extends well beyond the hula community, urging all members of the public to refrain from harvesting these fragile species in wild forest lands.

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Cultivation, innovation encouraged

Takamine clarified that the moratorium applies specifically to wild gathering, not to plants cultivated on private property.

“We encourage the lāhui and the general public to help protect our native forests by supporting those who thoughtfully grow, cultivate, and utilize their own resources. By choosing cultivated resources over harvesting from our forests, we can mālama ʻāina while sustaining the people and practices that keep our resources thriving,” said Takamine.

Organizers also view the moratorium as an opportunity for artistic innovation within hula traditions, pointing out that lei makers are already adapting by creating maile-style lei crafted from ti leaf and other cultivated greenery.

“It’s also good because it’ll let hālau and especially us lei makers to experiment with other things that can substitute those kinolau in our lei making,” said 19-year-old lei maker, Taavi Pa’aluhi.

“I think that we can still celebrate and preserve the essence and spirit of the lei and how it can relate to performance, mele, hula, et cetera, and really just thinking outside of the box about it,” said lei maker Kim Scott.

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