Volcanoes have created and shaped the Hawaiian Island chain. Kilauea and Mauna Loa (both active) are still adding land to the island. Flows of molten lava have added layer upon layer and produced a barren volcanic landscape that has served as a foundation of life. Hundreds of species of plants and animals have found their way across the vast pacific in wind water and wings of birds. Few have survived but adapted. The park displays the results of 70 million years of volcanism, migration, and evolution. Hawaii has created a complex and unique ecosystem and a distinct human culture. Because of this the park was created to preserve the natural setting of Kilauea and Mauna Loa. Research by scientists at the volcano observatory made Kilauea one of the best understood volcanoes in the world. It sheds light of the birth of the Hawaiian Islands and the beginning of planet earth.