Images of Old Hawaiʻi

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Mahalo ʻAina

Mahalo ‘Aina: Give Back to the Forest is a program of the Hawai‘i Forest Institute (an entity established in 1989 to promote healthy and productive forests and a sustainable forest industry through forest management, education, planning, information exchange and advocacy.)

In partnership with the Hawai‘i Forest Industry Association (HFIA) and others, the goal of the Mahalo ‘Aina program is to expand community partnerships and gain support for the protection and perpetuation of Hawaiʻi’s forest ecosystems.

Click HERE to get to the Mahalo Aina website.

The philosophy of Mahalo ʻAina is simple: to help ensure a thriving future for forest restoration and education programs. The forest provides us with environmental, economic and cultural benefits, but we must also understand that we must give back to the forest.

Key Objectives of the Mahalo ‘Aina: Give back to the Forest program include:

  • Participate in forest restoration projects;
  • Raise awareness of reforestation efforts in Hawai‘i;
  • Develop demonstration forests;
  • Plan for future sustainability of forest ecosystems;
    • Raise awareness of forestry practices;
    • Illustrate forestry conservation practices; and
    • Develop long-term partnerships
  • Engage the public to become involved

This is a fundraising effort; please consider donating – click HERE to do so.

Funds raised through Mahalo ‘Aina are helping to support: Propagation, outplanting, and long-term care of plantings; Site maintenance; Cultural and environmental education programs; and Coordination and promotional activities.

Mahalo ‘Aina is not simply a tree planting program, in addition to planting trees, it is helping to support total ecosystem management and providing forest stewardship opportunities and educational programs at project sites throughout the state.

Mahalo ‘Aina will initially benefit the following projects:

  • Ka‘upulehu Dryland Forest, Hawai‘i Island
  • La‘i‘Opua Dryland Habitat Preserve, Hawai‘i Island
  • Kaloko Makai Dryland Forest Preserve, Hawai‘i Island
  • Pana‘ewa Zoo Discovery Forest, Hawai‘i Island
  • Palamanui Dry Forest Preserve, Hawai‘i Island
  • ‘Aina Mauna Christmas Tree Demonstration Project, Hawai‘i Island
  • Kapapala Canoe Forest, Hawai‘i Island
  • Honolulu Zoo Children’s Discovery Forest, O‘ahu
  • Hawaiʻi’s WoodshowTM, Na La‘au o Hawai‘i, O‘ahu
  • Hawaii Wood Guild, Hawai‘i Island
  • Keauhou Bird Conservation Center Discovery Forest, Hawai‘i Island
  • Kua O Ka La Public Charter School, Hawai‘i Island
  • Hawai‘i Island Native Hawaiian Seed Bank Cooperative, Hawai‘i Island
  • Honokohau National Historical Park & Pu‘uhonua O Honaunau Restoration, Hawai‘i Island
  • Kakeʻe Area Restoration and Reforestation Project, Kaua‘i
  • Maui Bird Conservation Center Discovery Forest, Maui (in exploration phase)

Tune in to the Mahalo ‘Aina Hawaiʻi Public Radio (HPR) Radio Series on HPR-1 Monday through Friday at 8:18 am, now through Friday, July 31st.

Click HERE to catch up on prior broadcasts.

The 65 episodes will re-run on HPR-2 starting in August 2015.)

I am honored and proud to serve as a director on the Hawaiʻi Forest Institute (HFI,) an organization dedicated to promote the health and productivity of Hawaiʻi’s forests, through forest restoration, educational programs, information dissemination and support for scientific research.

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© 2015 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Mahalo Aina

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Food Forest

It’s not food for human use – it’s a forest managed to provide habitat and food for recovering endangered bird species.

The Keauhou Bird Conservation Center (KBCC) Discovery Forest is a project and part of Hawaiʻi Forest Institute’s (HFI) Mahalo ʻĀina: Give Back to the Forest Program.

HFI’s Mahalo ʻĀina: Give Back to the Forest program seeks to expand public and private partnerships to gain support for the protection and perpetuation of Hawaii’s forest resources.

The objectives of the KBCC Discovery Forest are to:
• Restore an endemic forest canopy with koa;
• Restore an endemic forest understory with fruiting trees and shrubs;
• Improve habitat quality for endemic wild birds;
• Provide hands-on experiential education for local students; and
• Provide forest materials (fruits, browse, and perching) for captive birds KBCC.

Using captive propagation and release techniques, KBCC is reestablishing self-sustaining populations of critically endangered Hawaiian birds in the wild.

The Hawai‘i Endangered Bird Conservation Program breeds endangered Hawaiian birds in captivity, for release back into the wild.

For Phase I, HFI began work with KBCC and other community partners to create the Discovery Forest with 1,200 koa and other native trees. This project is providing service learning opportunities for youth volunteers and helping to develop habitat and food for native birds.

Koa trees are an essential part of native Hawaiian forests. They improve soil quality through a chemical process called nitrogen fixation, allowing other native plants, like the fruiting trees necessary for native bird life, to grow in the nutrient-poor, lava-based soil.

In addition, koa are the dominant crown cover in some areas, providing watershed protection and playing a large part in Hawaiian culture.

Koa is important from a conservation perspective because it provides habitat for native plants and animals. Although birds do not eat koa fruit, they forage on insects on and within the tree itself, and use cavities in koa for nesting.

Once a koa forest is established, understory fruiting species that are key to the diets of rare bird species can be planted in the area. Fruiting species include hōawa, kōlea, maile, māmaki, māmane, ‘ōhelo, ‘ōlapa, pilo and ‘ie’ie. (San Diego Zoo)

Notable long-term program efforts and successes include:
• Nēnē – (the State Bird) recovering from fewer than 50 birds to nearly 2,000
• ʻAlala – captive flock that has grown to 95
• Puaiohi – recovering from only a few dozen to approximately 500 (found only on Kaua‘i)
• Palila – a new population has been established on the north slope of Mauna Kea

The trees planted school groups are the beginning of a new native tree forest that will support the native bird species in the future.

This site, at an elevation of about 4,000-feet, was once grazed by cattle and was primarily covered in non-native kikuyu grass; forest restoration helps add to the existing collection of native species.

The land is owned by Kamehameha Schools and leased to KBCC, which is part of the Hawaiʻi Endangered Bird Conservation Program, a partnership between the San Diego Zoo Global Institute for Conservation Research, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and DLNR’s Division of Forestry and Wildlife.

The project to re-establish the koa forest has been funded through the support of the Hawai‘i Community Foundation and the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority. The koa seedlings were donated by the Three Mountain Alliance.

HFI was awarded a DLNR Division of Forestry & Wildlife (DOFAW) Forest Stewardship Program grant to develop a forest stewardship plan for the approximately 200-acre Discovery Forest site. (HFI)

Click the following link for more on Mahalo ʻĀina: Give Back to the Forest Program.
http://www.mahaloaina.org

I am honored and proud to serve as a director on the Hawaiʻi Forest Institute, an organization dedicated to promote the health and productivity of Hawaiʻi’s forests, through forest restoration, educational programs, information dissemination and support for scientific research.

Among other projects The Mahalo ‘Āina: Give Back to the Forest will benefit Kaʻūpūlehu Dryland Forest, LaʻiʻŌpua Dryland Habitat Preserve, Kaloko Makai Dryland Forest Preserve, Panaʻewa Zoo Discovery Forest, ʻĀina Mauna Christmas Tree Demonstration Project and Honolulu Zoo Children’s Discovery Forest. (Lots of information and images here is from HFI.)

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Honolulu Zoo Children’s Discovery Forest

The Hawaiʻi Forest Industry Association (HFIA), Hawaiʻi Forest Institute (HFI) and community partners are planning the Honolulu Zoo Children’s Discovery Forest, which will be created at the Honolulu Zoo in Waikīkī on Oʻahu.
The project site is near the zoo entrance and adjacent to the future site of a Native Hawaiian Village. The Discovery Forest will be a representation of natural systems, creating a scene of Hawai’i before the arrival of humans.
The exhibit will be designed to demonstrate culturally significant Hawaiian plant species, the significance of place, and the kuleana of mālama ʻāina (responsibility to care for the land) by integrating traditional Hawaiian forest ecosystems, forest stewardship opportunities, and innovative land-based education for residents and visitors.
The Discovery Forest will reconnect urban visitors with the Hawaiian forest through three demonstration zones: strand vegetation, dryland mesic forest species, and Polynesian-introduced species and cultivars.
The Discovery Forest will be a place that serves as an ongoing outdoor educational setting in which visitors will learn about the importance of the sustainability of native and Polynesian plantings within a framework of Hawaiian cultural values.
The vision is one in which the vast cultural, natural and historical attributes of Hawaii’s endemic and indigenous coastal flora and geology is shared, demonstrating the bond that must be formed between people and ‘āina if both are to thrive.
HFIA was recently awarded a Hawai’i Tourism Authority (HTA) Natural Resources Program grant, administered by the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement (CNHA), for the Discovery Forest.
Other project partners include Paepae o Heʻeia, Conservation Council of Hawaiʻi, Scenic Hawaii, Inc., Mānoa Heritage Center, Kualoa-Heʻeia Ecumenical Youth Project (KEY Project), Polynesian Voyaging Society and O’ahu Resource Conservation & Development Council.
“We extend our mahalo to community partners, HTA and the CNHA for recognizing the importance of helping visitors, island students and kamaʻaina expand their appreciation for Hawaiʻi’s forest ecosystems,” said HFIA Executive Director Heather Simmons.
“Through the Honolulu Zoo Discovery Forest, we have an opportunity to promote forest awareness and significance to thousands of people.”
I am proud and honored to serve on the Board of Directors of the Hawai‘i Forest Institute.

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Hawai‘i Forest Institute

The Hawai`i Forest Institute was incorporated as a nonprofit organization in 2003 by a diverse group of volunteers who work together to promote awareness of the intrinsic value of Hawai‘i’s forests to the local and international community.
The Institute’s mandate is to improve and internationally promote the health and productivity of Hawai‘i’s forests through:
•        Scientific research in forestry, reforestation, forest species, forest habitats and forest products
•        Educational programs in forestry management practices and forestry related enterprises, and
•        Information dissemination and other charitable scientific and educational endeavors related to forestry
The Institute is guided by a Board that is comprised of individuals who provide knowledgeable and respected contributions in education, industry, science, law, environmental and cultural conservation, organizational governance and academic research.
Present Institute Projects Include:
•        Honolulu Zoo Discovery Forest
•        Honokōhau National Historical Park
•        Kapāpala Canoe Forest
•        Kaloko Makai Dryland Forest Preserve
•        Young-Growth Koa Wood Quality Assessment & Demonstration Project
•        Hui Lā‘au Kama‘āina: Restoration and Education at La‘i‘Ōpua Preserve
•        Ho‘ola Ka Makana‘a at Ka‘ūpūlehu
•        Ka Pilina Poina ’Ole “Connection Not Forgotten”
•        Hawaii Island Native Seed Bank Cooperative
•        Statewide Forestry Forums
•        Pana‘ewa Zoo Discovery Forest
Simply put, the forest is critically important to everyone in Hawai’i.
And, forests are not just about trees.
Virtually all our fresh water comes from the forest, also clean air, recreation areas, habitat for native species, plants for cultural practices and woods for fine arts are among the thousands of forest benefits.
Our forests present endless opportunities for both residents and visitors; Hawaii’s forests offer employment, recreation and resources – including ecological goods and services.
Ecological goods include clean air, and abundant fresh water; while ecological services include purification of air and water, plant and wildlife habitat, maintenance of biodiversity, decomposition of wastes, soil and vegetation generation and renewal, groundwater recharge, greenhouse gas mitigation and aesthetically pleasing landscapes.
Water, wildlife and wood are just a few of the products found in our forests.
We are fortunate that 100-years ago some forward thinkers had the good sense to set aside Hawai‘i’s forested lands and protected our forest watersheds under the State’s forest reserve system.  While I was at DLNR, we oversaw these nearly 1-million acres of mauka lands.
Healthy forests are a goal for all of us in Hawai‘i, it’s as much about fresh water, erosion control, protected reefs and economic opportunities as it is about trees.
Of course, an added benefit is being able to appreciate the outcome after putting some of Hawaiʻi’s native woods in the hands of artisans.
It’s not too late to go to Hawaiʻi’s Woodshow 2012, Na Laʻau o Hawaiʻi at Hawai‘i Academy of Arts – Honolulu Museum of Art School (corner of Beretania and Victoria Street – just mauka of Blaisdell Center parking – now through April 15th.)
I am proud and honored to have been selected and now serve on the Board of Directors of the Hawai‘i Forest Institute.