MEDIA RELEASE

The Kohala Watershed Partnership invites community volunteers to plant native trees on Kohala Mountain, as part of the Koaia Corridor Restoration project. 

The Saturday volunteer work days this spring are Feb. 21, March 21, April 18, and May 16, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Adults and children are welcome to participate; tools, gloves, and transportation to the work site are provided.

The long-term goal of this project is to restore a native forest along the strip of land between Waiakamali Stream and Luahine Stream between Kohala Mountain Road and Puu O Umi Natural Area Reserve. 

The leadership for this project comes from the State Natural Area Reserve team. They are working with the adjacent landowners and lessees of the State land to install a solid fence to keep out cattle and to plant trees. 

The project is coordinated by the staff of the Kohala Watershed Partnership (KWP), a coalition of land owners who have combined their efforts to do watershed conservation, in cooperation with The Kohala Center, local schools, and community groups.

A unique thing about this two-mile corridor is the range of native plants that can live here, mostly due to the huge range of rainfall. The makai section receives only 30 inches of rain per year, but the mauka part gets almost 150 inches. 

As a result, there are more than 50 species of native plants from dry to wet forests of Kohala Mountain that can survive here.

Community members are welcome to participate. 

To learn more about the project or to get details about volunteer days, contact Melora Purell, the KWP coordinator at 333-0976, or e-mail Coordinator@kohalawatershed.org. 

— Find out more:

Kohala Watershed Partnership: www.hawp.org/kohala.asp

The Kohala Center: www.kohalacenter.org