Two Big Island nonprofits will receive a share of more than $42 million in grants awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture through the Inflation Reduction Act to nine organizations for planting and maintaining trees, combat extreme heat, and improve access to green space in communities throughout the state.
Friends of Amy BH Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden will receive $2 million to increase equitable access to tree canopy; elevate workforce development and culturally-embedded educational programming; expand local participation in the development and execution of five-year Community Forest Plan and improve resilience to climate change through the propagation, distribution, and out-planting of endemic, indigenous, and Polynesian-introduced plants.
Situated in Kealakekua ahupua‘a and overlooking the Bay, the 13-acre Amy B. H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden mission “supports Hawaiian cultural traditions of land use and plants, and conserves the plant resources of traditional Hawaiian cultural activities.”
The Garden contains over 200 native plant species, many of which are rare and endangered.
Many kinds of traditional and modern activities and research are being perpetuated at the garden. Set amongst the most intact remnants of the Kona Field System, the Garden includes agricultural, residential and sacred sites. The historic Pa‘ikapahu Heiau is in a parcel near the main Garden.
The Akaka Foundation was awarded $1 million to expand culturally based learning and stewardship opportunities for underserved students and teachers. The curriculum emphasizes the social significance of trees to indigenous lands and the ecological benefits trees provide to island people. This project promotes cultural resilience and will engage over 5,000 students, 500 teachers, and 1,600 community members.
“We are so grateful to have been awarded the IRA grant award to support Pilina ‘Aina — a collaborative initiative of the Akaka Foundation for Tropical Forests, the USDA Forest Service, and University of Hawaii at Manoa,” said Rebekah D. Ohara, Chief Executive Officer. “Our programs bring students from diverse geographies to diverse community forests, Forest Reserves, and Natural Area Reserves of Hawaii, from the dryland forests of Pu‘uwa‘awa‘a to the wet forests of Laupahoehoe, Hilo, and Kohala districts. These outdoor spaces are our greatest teachers and permit us to equitably fill important learning gaps in our public schools and communities.”
Pilina ‘Aina provides culturally grounded, place-based, and STEM-focused career connected learning opportunities to students and their teachers through a suite of highly successful immersive conservation education programs.
The Akaka Foundation for Tropical Forest’s mission addresses the interdependence of thriving ecosystems, cultural practice, and sustainable livelihood, and is grounded in the Hawaiian cultural perspective that place-based relationships enhance stewardship of all features on land and ocean. Their mission encourages active public participation by integrating multiple knowledge systems and expanding the dialogue between various stakeholders in biocultural stewardship efforts.
The largest award — $20 million — went to Kupu, a conservation and youth education nonprofit based in Honolulu. This project will benefit areas populated by disadvantaged native Hawaiian populations and provide financial and technical assistance toward career workforce development, cultivate indigenous equity; and mitigating invasive species, pest sand diseases.
Other recipients of the grant include City and County of Honolulu Parks and Recreation, Grow Good Hawaii, DLNR, DOFAW, Smart Trees Pacific and University of Hawaii.
For more information about Pilina ‘Aina and current programs visit pilinaaina.org. For more information about the Akaka Foundation visit akakaforests.org.