Mālama nā Ko‘olau Day at the Waihe‘e Valley restoration site
Saturday, January 27th
**The deadline for applications to be turned in is Saturday, January 6th.**
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Who: We invite volunteers of all ages to join our service-learning experience, to be eligible to join the event, you will need to set an RSVP and become a registered KMWP volunteer. You can set your RSVP through this Volunteer Opportunities Calendar and then you will need to look out for an email from the outreach team with a link to the application form or visit the link below and send in your form to the outreach email.
You must RSVP and turn in your registration forms no later than January 6th to be eligible for this event. If you were registered with us from a previous Mālama nā Ko‘olau event in 2023, you will need to submit a new application form because the current registrations will expire on December 31st, 2023(see below for link to forms).
What: This service-learning day will be a great opportunity to learn while you work and connect to this beautiful space. We will be focused on invasive species removal and protecting native plants in the area. There may be some planting and seed bomb throwing as well as some seed collection, brush clearing, and trail work.
When: Meet at Kahaluʻu Regional Park at 8:30am for check-ins. After a quick drive to the worksite, the volunteer activity will commence and go from about 9:00am -12:00pm.
Where: We will meet at Kahaluʻu Regional Park, then caravan to the worksite in the back of Waiheʻe Valley. The road into the worksite is not paved, so be prepared for muddy cars. 4-wheel drive is not required, but vehicles that have extra-low clearance may have difficulty on the road. Keep in mind that the access to the site is through a locked gate and participants will only be able to enter and exit with our KMWP 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.
Why: This site is an important demonstration garden and shows what can be achieved in lowland, heavily-invaded forests when we make the collective effort to care for the land. The site represents a multi-year project to clear invasive species, fence out invasive ungulates, and plant native and beneficial forest species. It is used as a teaching tool for the Board of Water Supply, KMWP, and other local organizations like the KEY Project. People from keiki to kupuna go there for visits and service-learning opportunities. We want you to be part of the story of this site and its promise for the future.
Once you have turned in your KMWP volunteer registration, it will be reviewed. If it is filled out correctly, you will become a registered volunteer with KMWP 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 email will include a Board of Water Supply waiver form for the Waihe’e site. We will need these waivers tuned in no later than January 19th.
Here is a little breakdown of how the 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 be for a maximum of 25 people at any site and reservations are on a first-come, first-serve basis.
- Check-ins will generally be at 8:30am and the restoration activities will go from about 9am-12pm.
- 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 at least 3 weeks before any event.
- 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.
- Here is a link to the application forms, some 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.
- 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 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 have also opened up a new option for volunteer groups and organizations that are interested in visiting multiple restoration sites over the course of a year. Your entire group can register for the MNK program. Then we can set up a special volunteer day for them at one of the regular sites listed above. At a later time, we can set up an event at another MNK site and all the registered volunteers would need to do is put in their RSVPs for that day instead of filling out a new set of forms for the site.
- This is a way for us to open up opportunities at our various restoration sites for groups that want to visit more than one location. Rather than the group needing to fill new registration forms for each site, they have one form to cover all of our sites.
- The limitations to this option are that the group must be able to adhere to the timeline, their applications are only good for the calendar year, and the group size cannot exceed 25 volunteers.
- All registered group members will be part of the MNK program and are able to RSVP to join any other MNK events that are scheduled.
- If your group cannot work with the restrictions, but still wants to set up a volunteer event or series of events, contact our outreach team and let them know.
