“We bank seeds because we see a future for our native ecosystems.”

About Kalehua

OUR MISSION is to empower our clients to preserve native and culturally important plants through seed conservation, using experience and science-based practices to maximize seed quality and storage life.

Kalehua Seed Conservation Consulting was established by Dr. Marian M. Chau in 2019. Marian is the founder and Co-Chair (2016-2024) of the IUCN Seed Conservation Specialist Group, a collaboration of over 100 specialists worldwide that provides expertise to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. She is also the Head of Seed Banking for Terraformation, whose mission is to accelerate reforestation projects to address the climate crisis. For over 5 years, Marian served as the Seed Conservation Laboratory Manager at Lyon Arboretum and Research Leader for the Hawai‘i Seed Bank Partnership, and was lead author on a publication summarizing over 20 years of seed storage research in Hawai‘i. She completed a sponsored Technical Training Attachment at the Millennium Seed Bank - the world’s largest seed bank for native species, at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, England; and her mentors also include leading experts at the USDA National Laboratory for Genetic Resources Preservation. She has worked with seeds of over 500 native Hawaiian species - many rare and critically endangered - and has established a network of collaborators including seed bankers, natural resource managers, botanists, researchers, educators, and other stakeholders across Hawai‘i and around the world. Marian has a PhD in Botany and over 12 years’ experience in plant conservation in Hawai‘i.

Any stewardship of natural resources must be done with due respect to the ‘aina (land, earth) and local cultural practices, traditions, and concerns. For this reason, Marian is a member of the first O‘ahu cohort of Hālau ‘Ōhi‘a, cultural stewardship training for conservation practitioners. Through Hālau, she has learned Hawaiian philosophies and lifeways and how to integrate those practices into her work, with a greater awareness of what is pono (proper procedure, moral and just) for the natural resources being managed. Hālau also strengthens relationships among natural resource stewards across Hawai‘i, creating an extended ‘ohana (family).

Marian has also spent much time on the island of Moloka‘i, where she has consulted and volunteered as a teacher and team leader at the Hui Ho‘olana Native Reforestation Project. There she managed a native nursery and 2 acre restoration site with over 40 native species, including collecting and propagating plants from seeds.

The name Kalehua means the lehua flower, or the ʻōhiʻa lehua tree. This name was given to Marian by her kumu mele (music teacher) on Molokaʻi, Uncle Roy, which she considers a great honor. Uncle gave her this name for creating and leading the Rapid ‘Ōhi‘a Death (ROD) Seed Banking Initiative. This is a statewide initiative to collect seeds of the keystone ʻōhiʻa tree across all islands, in response to the ROD crisis, and bank them at Hawai‘i Seed Bank Partnership facilities for future reforestation, in collaboration with Laukahi, the Hawai‘i Plant Conservation Network. The success of the ongoing ROD Seed Banking Initiative was one of the main inspirations for this consulting company, which aims to expand efforts like this in Hawai‘i and beyond.