The Hosea Lovell Foundation is a Kauaʻi-based nonprofit dedicated to coastal education, ocean stewardship, and limu revitalization through Native Hawaiian cultural practice.

Founded by Nalani Kaneakua—a chef, limu practitioner, ulana practitioner, lāʻau lapaʻau practitioner, fisherwoman, and veteran Hōkūleʻa crew member—the Foundation carries forward the life’s work and legacy of her father, Hosea Lovell, a master lawaiʻa and mahiʻai, former farm manager for the University of Hawaiʻi Experiment Station, and a descendant of generations of limu pickers from Anahola.

In the late 1990s, Hosea Lovell initiated the Aliomanu Limu Restoration Project, laying the groundwork for community-based coastal stewardship rooted in place and practice. Following his passing, this work was reborn as the Koʻolau Limu Project, which now serves as the anchor from which all current initiatives emerge—ensuring that his legacy of caring for ʻāina and kai continues through education, restoration, and meaningful community connection.

Foundation programs emphasize place-based, hands-on learning along the Koʻolau coastline of Kauaʻi, reconnecting ʻohana and youth to ʻike Hawaiʻi through shoreline restoration, limu planting and propagation, and community education.

At the heart of this work is limu—an ancestral food source and vital indicator of coastal health. Through multi-year workshops and restoration efforts, the Foundation shares both traditional and contemporary knowledge grounded in ʻike kūpuna.

The Koʻolau Limu Festival serves as the Foundation’s annual gathering, bringing together practitioners, educators, scientists, nonprofits, and families to celebrate limu, culture, and community through a Native Hawaiian lens.

All Foundation work is intergenerational and community-driven, supporting cultural continuity, food sovereignty, and long-term sustainability so that limu—and the knowledge systems that sustain it—remain alive and accessible for generations to come.