Mālama Nā Ko‘olau in Waihe'e Valley

Join in to start the year off right with a fantastic day in the forest

---Saturday, January 17th---

**The deadline for RSVPs is Wednesday, January 8th**

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To kick off the new year, KMWP will be hosting its first Mālama Nā Koʻolau Day of 2026 at the Waiheʻe Valley Forest Restoration Site

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ATTENTION!!: We are temporarily shifting to a new method of collecting RSVPs due to some technical difficulties. For the time being, interested volunteers can RSVP for this volunteer day using the following Google Form.

As we are in the new year, all volunteers (including those previously registered with KMWP) will need to complete and submit the 2026 version of our waiver form to participate in events this year. The updated waiver and instructions can be found here.

Activities for the day: This service-learning event will involve invasive species removal to protect native plants in the area and restoring the space by planting beneficial native species. There may be some brush clearing, seed bomb throwing, trail work, and seed collection.

Who: All ages are invited to attend, but you must be a registered KMWP volunteer! All who are interested and planning to attend must fill out the waiver form linked above, along with an additional waiver from BWS (since the worksite is located on their property). The BWS form will be sent to you on completion of the KMWP 2026 Waiver Form (linked above).

This event is limited to 25 participants total. RSVPs are taken on a first come first serve basis and anyone who misses their waiver form deadlines will have their reservation cancelled to open the spots up for anyone on the waiting list who has finished their forms.

When: January 17th 2026 from 9am to 12pm

Where: We will first be meeting at Kahaluʻu Regional Park at 8:30am. From there, we will carpool to the worksite. The road to the worksite is not paved. 4-wheel drive is not required, but vehicles with low clearance may have difficulty on the road. Keep in mind that access to the site is through a locked gate, and participants will only be able to enter and exit with KMWP or BWS staff. Parking space is limited to no more than 10 vehicles at the worksite, so please consider going with a friend or carpooling if possible.

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Your RSVP is not complete until you turn in a volunteer registration form and a BWS form. The KMWP volunteer registration form is due by January 8th.

Once you have turned in your KMWP volunteer registration form, it will be reviewed. If it is filled out correctly, you will become a registered volunteer and your spot will be reserved for this event. We will send an information packet with more details about the site and what to expect/prepare for. This confirmation email will include a Board of Water Supply waiver form packet for the Waihe’e site.

Email koolaupartnership@gmail.com with any questions!

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Here is a little breakdown of how these Mālama Nā Koʻolau (MNK) service-learning events work:

• We will host at least 1 volunteer day each month at our various restoration sites and rotate locations so that everyone in the program has a chance to visit each of the sites.
• • These events will generally be for a maximum of 25 people at any given site, although some sites have a larger capacity.
  • Reservations for the monthly events are open to the public and filled on a first-come, first-serve basis.
  • Check-ins will generally be around 8:30am and the restoration activities will go from about 9am-12pm, although we may add extra time or additional volunteer sessions if the site allows.
  • The regular restoration sites include: the Pali Lookout Garden, Ala Mahamoe in Moanalua Valley, Mānoa cliffs, Waiʻalae Nui at Wiliwilinui Trail, and Waihe‘e Valley.

• To join these events, you must be registered with KMWP as a Mālama Nā Koʻolau Volunteer and have your application turned in and approved before any event.

• • Here is a link to the folder with the Volunteer Application Forms, examples of correctly filled forms, and instructions. Please read the instructions before filling the application. Incorrectly and/or incompletely filled applications will be flagged and rejected.
  • Send completed forms to koolaupartnership@gmail.com. Be sure to include the event and date you are RSVP’ing for.
  • Once you have turned in your application and it is accepted, it will be good until December 31st of that year. You do not need to fill out another application for Mālama Nā Koʻolau events until January of the following year.
  • Registered volunteers who want to join an event can RSVP via email.
  • Some sites require extra waivers, those will be sent as needed to participants.

• If you visit all 5 of the regular sites, then you will be eligible for an invitation to special Mālama Nā Koʻolau events to be announced.

• • We schedule a special event day at one of our elite sites approximately once a year and offer other special opportunities to our participants

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We will be holding these Mālama Nā Koʻolau service-learning events at least once a month for the rest of the year, but if you miss one, and want to help in a particular site, or just want to do a service day, then we can set up exclusive volunteer days in any of our main restoration sites. If you have the volunteer group, then we can arrange the location.

We also have the option for people to set up group events through the Mālama Nā Koʻolau (MNK) program, this allows us to open up more group opportunities across our range of sites. The way that it works is a group gets their members registered as MNK volunteers. Then these groups can set up workdays at any of the 5 main restoration sites (Pali, Waihe’e, Ala Mahamoe, Mānoa Cliffs, and WiliwiliNui trail).

The limitations to this option are:

• the group size must follow the capacity limits for the given site
• all applications expire in December,
• and the events are not exclusive.

The upsides to this option are:

• It allows groups to go to multiple sites and have events without filling out new applications for each one, and
• The group members will be registered MNK volunteers so they can join the regular events too.

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Feel free to reach out for more details or to set up an event