Mālama nā Ko‘olau day at the Ala Mahamoe Dryland Forest Restoration Site
Saturday, February 17th
**The deadline for applications to be turned in is Saturday, January 27th.**
Any additional volunteers will be added to the waiting list and if spots open up you will be given the opportunity to join on a first come first serve basis.
Who: Only registered KMWP volunteers can join this event. You must turn in registration forms by January 27th to be eligible.*.
Where: Park along the main road across from the Ala Mahamoe gate and walk to the site. Please be considerate of residents, do not block their driveways. Also, try to limit the number of cars taking up street parking, consider carpooling with a friend.
When: Meet at the gate at 8:45am for check-ins, after a quick walk to the worksite the volunteer activity will go from 9:00am -12:00pm
What: This service-learning day will be focused on invasive species removal to protect the growing native forest, there may be some planting as well as some seed collection and brush clearing.
Why: This site gives participants a special chance to try their hand at dryland forest restoration. It shows how an invasive dominated forest with a high fire risk can be shifted through volunteer time and work to become a healthier native dominated habitat that would serve as a protective green break. It is used as a teaching tool by our organization as well as community partners like a kumu la’au lapa’au (hawaiian medicine teacher). People from keiki to kupuna go there for visits and service-learning opportunities. The area gives them a chance to connect with all of these beautiful native species and a few Polynesian introductions too.
*All of the 2023 volunteer registrations are expired, so, unless you registered in January 2024, you will need to submit a new application form. You can RSVP for events through this Outreach events Calendar but you still need to fill out the volunteer application forms that will be sent in your confirmation email.
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.
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 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 around 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.
- Here is a link to a 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.
- When we have built up a larger group of volunteers who have visited all 5 of our main sites, we will schedule a special event day at one of our elite sites.
- We are looking at some time in May or June for that special event, so be sure to come to the upcoming events at any sites you may have missed.
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To allow us to open up more group opportunities we added a new option to the Mālama nā Ko’olau (MNK) opportunities for 2024. We are allowing groups to register their members as MNK volunteers. Then 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 can be no larger than 25, all applications expire in December, we need to follow the 9am-12pm set schedule, and the events are not exclusive. The upside to this option is that it allows groups to go to multiple sites and have events without filling out new applications for each one and since group members will be registered MNK volunteers, they can join the regular events too.
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 mentioned earlier for people to set up group events through the Mālama Nā Koʻolau program. Feel free to reach out for more details or to set up an event.
