Kohanaiki earns rare Audubon Gold Signature Sanctuary status on Kona Coast

Kohanaiki’s golf course on the Kona Coast has entered a tiny global club of environmentally recognized properties, becoming Hawaii’s first Gold Signature Sanctuary and one of just 14 locations worldwide to earn Audubon International’s highest Signature Sanctuary distinction.

For the Big Island, the award goes beyond prestige for a private golf community. Kohanaiki spans about 450 acres along the Kona Coast, and its certification points to a development model built around water conservation, habitat protection and long-term stewardship in a region where coastal growth, native ecosystems and limited freshwater supplies often collide.

Audubon International describes Signature Sanctuary certification as a tailored environmental stewardship program for distinctive properties and developments. The program is aimed at new or renovating golf courses, resorts and communities, and it brings architects, owners, managers and other stakeholders into environmental planning from the start rather than treating conservation as an afterthought.

At Kohanaiki, that approach includes restoration and maintenance of rare anchialine pond systems, habitat protection for the Hawaiian stilt, native and drought-tolerant landscaping, wildlife protection and low-impact maintenance practices. The property also uses predator control, reduced-disturbance areas and seasonal monitoring to protect nesting and foraging habitat. Advanced irrigation and moisture-monitoring systems are part of the effort to conserve water while maintaining turf quality.

David H. Reese, Kohanaiki’s president and CEO, said the club’s core philosophy is to embrace and protect the natural environment. Reese first joined Kohanaiki in 2008 and returned in 2014 after earlier service with the club. The Gold designation, he said, reflects daily practices that benefit the community on site and Kona more broadly.

The golf course itself is an 18-hole Rees Jones design with six oceanfront holes along a 1.5-mile shoreline, placing the certification squarely in one of the coast’s most visible and ecologically sensitive settings. Audubon International says it has more than 2,000 certified courses globally, which makes the Gold Signature Sanctuary tier a narrow subset within a much larger network.

For Kona, Kohanaiki’s recognition offers a concrete test case for whether luxury development and conservation can genuinely coexist. It shows that a large shoreline property can be managed to protect sensitive habitat and use water more carefully, while still operating as an exclusive golf community on one of the island’s most heavily watched coastlines.