March 28, 2025
By: Diane McWhirter
Bringing people back to nature!
Raised in Hawai‘i, I’m a family steward of a sacred space in the clouds, called Kona Cloud Forest Sanctuary. When I was a teenager, my father purchased land on the West Side of Hawai’i island with the intention of reforesting it. At the time, I didn’t fully grasp the significance of what he was doing, but I felt it in the quiet moments, in the way the trees held space, in the way the land itself seemed to hum with a promise of renewal.
I would wander alone through the misty forest, feeling an unspoken connection to something ancient and wise. The towering trees, the soft debris under my bare feet, the symphony of birds and rustling leaves. In those moments, the forest was my refuge. My family environment wasn’t always the healthiest. My parents, like so many, navigated their own struggles, and as they worked through their challenges, I found myself turning to nature for comfort. While some may have had a nurturing home, I leaned on more nature – the trees, the rivers, and the ocean. Where others sought the embrace of a parent, I found it in the gentle whisper of the wind, the laughter that lingered on the branches of trees, and the force of the waves that taught me how to be brave and humble. Nature didn’t judge. It simply existed, and in its presence, I felt a deep sense of love and belonging.
In many ways, nature raised me. It became my greatest teacher, showing me the rhythms of life, the beauty of stillness, and the power of resilience. It was here, among the towering ʻōhiʻa that I first truly understood the power of interconnectedness between people and nature. I felt truly seen – not by people, but by the land and the ocean. And one day in a quiet solitary moment, a dream took root. I wanted others to feel what I felt. I wanted to share the peace, the belonging, the home I had discovered in this place, and the home I discovered in myself.
Hawai‘i is unlike anywhere else in the world. 10 out of 14 climate zones exist on the Island of Hawaiʻi. Our islands, born of fire and shaped by time, hold extraordinary diversity. The Big Island alone rises from sea level to nearly 14,000 feet, a landscape sculpted by five volcanoes, from the vast lava fields of Maunaloa to the living, breathing energy of Kīlauea. We are surrounded by approximately 320 miles of coastline, where the ocean plunges into deep-sea ecosystems just miles offshore. And here, in the embrace of the cloud forest, life thrives in a way that feels both untamed and deeply intentional.
This land is a sanctuary, not just for the rare and endemic species that call it home, but for the people who step into it. I see it in the faces of those who visit—the way their shoulders relax, their breath softens, their heart opens as they take in the towering trees and the ethereal mist floating through the canopy. I see people arrive burdened with the weight of the world and leave lighter, more connected, more themselves.
Nature reminds us of who we are. It strips away the noise, the distractions, the expectations, and brings us back to something essential, something we often forget in the busyness of life. It heals not by fixing what is broken, but by reminding us that we were never truly separate from it to begin with.
I hope these words inspire you to slow down enough to notice the subtle things and experience the profound embrace of nature – the quiet love that asks for nothing but gives everything. No matter where you are in the world, make it part of your health plan to be in nature, and rediscover the joy and wonder of your inner child. The part of you that was always rooted in simplicity and truth.
For more forest wisdom and facts, we invite you to follow Kona Cloud Forest Sanctuary on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube
