The US National Park Service is celebrating its centennial this year, and the state of Hawaii is taking part at its nine national parks.

Beyond their incredible natural beauty, many of these parks are also unique in the world for their preservation of multiple sites and structures significant to Hawaiian history and culture. Their importance has been detailed in numerous mele (songs), oli (chants) and moolelo (stories).

For instance, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on Hawaii Island (The Big Island) is the largest national park in the Islands and ranges in elevation from sea level to 4,000 metres. It is the only Hawaii national park with active volcanoes: Kilauea and Maunaloa.

(http://www.nps.gov)