Kona Cloud Forest Sanctuary has been awarded the Better Business Bureau 2025 Torch Award
November 10, 2025
The Kona Cloud Forest Sanctuary (KCFS) has been awarded the Better Business Bureau (BBB) Foundation’s 2025 Torch Award for Ethics, recognizing its leadership in values-driven business practices, environmental stewardship, and community impact.
The BBB Foundation Torch Award for Ethics celebrates organizations that exemplify trust, character, and commitment to both people and place. KCFS earned the award for exemplifying ethical excellence in character, community, customer care, and culture across its people and practices. Guided by a regenerative business model that creates a net positive impact for its team, community, and the Earth, KCFS operates with the belief that businesses thrive when they care for people and the planet, cultivating a culture of purpose and well-being that extends from its team to its guests and beyond.
“Kona Cloud Forest Sanctuary builds trust from the inside out,” said the BBB Foundation. “Integrity shows up in every guest interaction, every team meeting, and every reforested acre. They have created a culture where respect, care, and leadership are daily practices.”
Regeneration in Action
Founded in 1982, KCFS has transformed once-damaged ranch land into a reforested sanctuary within Hawai‘i’s only tropical cloud forest. As a voice for this critical watershed, this thriving ecosystem now serves as a living classroom and restorative oasis for local residents, visitors, and community groups through its guided nature experiences. KCFS integrates ethical principles into every aspect of its operations, from team leadership and decision-making to guest care and community engagement. Each team member’s role is intentionally designed so they can thrive in their lane of genius, contributing their unique strengths to the sanctuary’s mission and the guest experience.
Guided by its mission to reconnect humanity with nature, KCFS offers immersive forest tours, wellness experiences, monthly mālama ʻāina volunteer days, retreats, educational partnerships, and donated experiences to local schools and nonprofits. Through these hands-on experiences, thousands of visitors, students, and volunteers have helped restore this rare ecosystem while learning about regenerative land stewardship and our profound connection to nature. Guides and practitioners receive ongoing training in interpretive guiding, ecology, cultural connection, mindfulness and regenerative practices to ensure each experience is meaningful, educational, and transformative. Guests have become a global community, with many returning on each visit to Hawai‘i, returning multiple times in one stay, or making the sanctuary a regular part of their routine life here on island. Guests consistently share that their time at KCFS is among their most meaningful experiences, reflecting the integrity, purpose, and authenticity at the heart of the team and mission.
“This award reflects our daily commitment to caring for our team, the land, and our community,” said Brooke, Chief Creative Officer and co-owner of KCFS. “When people truly connect with nature, they begin to care for it, and that care inspires action. At the sanctuary, we help people reconnect, restore, and remember their relationship with the natural world, because real change always begins within ourselves.”
Community Recognition
KCFS’s values have earned recognition not only from the BBB but also from guests around the world. The sanctuary holds more than 1,700 five-star reviews and ranks among Hawai‘i Island’s top-rated nature experiences on Google and Tripadvisor. It was also named one of Hawai‘i Magazine’s Top 3 Guided Tours (2025) and received the Tripadvisor Travelers’ Choice Award.
The BBB Foundation’s honor underscores how ethical, community-rooted business practices can thrive in Hawai‘i while restoring the land and inspiring others to do the same.
About the Kona Cloud Forest Sanctuary
Located on the slopes of Hualālai in Kailua-Kona, the Kona Cloud Forest Sanctuary is a family-stewarded, reforested sanctuary offering guided forest tours, wellness experiences, and conservation programs that educate, inspire, and reconnect people back to nature. Since 1982, KCFS has led efforts in reforestation, environmental education, and regenerative tourism on Hawai‘i Island.
Learn more at: www.KonaCloudForest.com
About the BBB Torch Awards for Ethics
The BBB Foundation’s Torch Awards for Ethics honor businesses that demonstrate integrity and a strong commitment to ethical practices in character and leadership, customer care, culture, and community.
Learn more about the BBB Torch Award for Ethics: bbb.org/local/1296/bbb-awards/torch
Learn more about the Hawai‘i Awards Honorees: bbb.org/local/1296/bbb-awards/hawaii
The BBB Foundation Torch Award for Ethics celebrates organizations that exemplify trust, character, and commitment to both people and place. KCFS earned the award for exemplifying ethical excellence in character, community, customer care, and culture across its people and practices. Guided by a regenerative business model that creates a net positive impact for its team, community, and the Earth, KCFS operates with the belief that businesses thrive when they care for people and the planet, cultivating a culture of purpose and well-being that extends from its team to its guests and beyond.
“Kona Cloud Forest Sanctuary builds trust from the inside out,” said the BBB Foundation. “Integrity shows up in every guest interaction, every team meeting, and every reforested acre. They have created a culture where respect, care, and leadership are daily practices.”
Regeneration in Action
Founded in 1982, KCFS has transformed once-damaged ranch land into a reforested sanctuary within Hawai‘i’s only tropical cloud forest. As a voice for this critical watershed, this thriving ecosystem now serves as a living classroom and restorative oasis for local residents, visitors, and community groups through its guided nature experiences. KCFS integrates ethical principles into every aspect of its operations, from team leadership and decision-making to guest care and community engagement. Each team member’s role is intentionally designed so they can thrive in their lane of genius, contributing their unique strengths to the sanctuary’s mission and the guest experience.
Guided by its mission to reconnect humanity with nature, KCFS offers immersive forest tours, wellness experiences, monthly mālama ʻāina volunteer days, retreats, educational partnerships, and donated experiences to local schools and nonprofits. Through these hands-on experiences, thousands of visitors, students, and volunteers have helped restore this rare ecosystem while learning about regenerative land stewardship and our profound connection to nature. Guides and practitioners receive ongoing training in interpretive guiding, ecology, cultural connection, mindfulness and regenerative practices to ensure each experience is meaningful, educational, and transformative. Guests have become a global community, with many returning on each visit to Hawai‘i, returning multiple times in one stay, or making the sanctuary a regular part of their routine life here on island. Guests consistently share that their time at KCFS is among their most meaningful experiences, reflecting the integrity, purpose, and authenticity at the heart of the team and mission.
“This award reflects our daily commitment to caring for our team, the land, and our community,” said Brooke, Chief Creative Officer and co-owner of KCFS. “When people truly connect with nature, they begin to care for it, and that care inspires action. At the sanctuary, we help people reconnect, restore, and remember their relationship with the natural world, because real change always begins within ourselves.”
Community Recognition
KCFS’s values have earned recognition not only from the BBB but also from guests around the world. The sanctuary holds more than 1,700 five-star reviews and ranks among Hawai‘i Island’s top-rated nature experiences on Google and Tripadvisor. It was also named one of Hawai‘i Magazine’s Top 3 Guided Tours (2025) and received the Tripadvisor Travelers’ Choice Award.
The BBB Foundation’s honor underscores how ethical, community-rooted business practices can thrive in Hawai‘i while restoring the land and inspiring others to do the same.
About the Kona Cloud Forest Sanctuary
Located on the slopes of Hualālai in Kailua-Kona, the Kona Cloud Forest Sanctuary is a family-stewarded, reforested sanctuary offering guided forest tours, wellness experiences, and conservation programs that educate, inspire, and reconnect people back to nature. Since 1982, KCFS has led efforts in reforestation, environmental education, and regenerative tourism on Hawai‘i Island.
Learn more at: www.KonaCloudForest.com
About the BBB Torch Awards for Ethics
The BBB Foundation’s Torch Awards for Ethics honor businesses that demonstrate integrity and a strong commitment to ethical practices in character and leadership, customer care, culture, and community.
Learn more about the BBB Torch Award for Ethics: bbb.org/local/1296/bbb-awards/torch
Learn more about the Hawai‘i Awards Honorees: bbb.org/local/1296/bbb-awards/hawaii