Upcoming events
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Hala Festival
Find our booth at this yearʻs Hala Festival! Saturday, May 18th from 10 AM to 2 PM at the Makuʻu Market in Pāhoa. There will be live music, food, keiki activities and more! Visit halafest.com for more information.
Past Events
Lā Honua Outplanting & Dye Workshop
April 27, 2024: 50 volunteers joined Liko Nā Pilina and the Hawaiʻi Army National Guard Environmental Office in partnership with Univeristy of Hawaiʻi Hilo (UHH) and Hawaiʻi Community College (HawCC) for an outplanting in celebration of Lā Honua (Earth Day). Participants included students from UHH, HawCC, and Hawaiʻi National Guard Youth Challenge Academy, as well as community members, members of Hawaiʻi Army National Guard, and university faculty and staff. All together, volunteers planted 338 seedlings of native and non-invasive introduced plants. Among the 24 different species planted were alaheʻe, kōpiko, ʻōhiʻa, kukui, avocado, ʻōhiʻa ʻai, and neneleau. Over the years, these plants will grow to establish a new forest canopy that facilitates further recruitment of native seedlings, increases native biodiversity, protects threatened and endangered species, and reduces invasive species management costs and control efforts.
To unwind after the outplanting, participants regrouped to work with the plants in another way: by creating dyes! Many native and canoe plants are traditionally used to dye kapa, and today are used for a variety of artistic and practical purposes. Volunteers were given the opportunity to color fabric with dyes made from milo fruits, which produced a rosey red color, and hau flowers, which created a grayish-green color. It was a wonderful celebration of Lā Honua working with the ʻāina and building pilina with Hawaiian plants.
Mahalo nui to the 50 volunteers who came out and helped us plant 338 seedlings!
Visit from Shadow the Scientists
February 16, 2024: Jameeka Marshall from Shadow the Scientists (StS), an initiative based at University of California Santa Cruz, visited the Liko Nā Pilina site and spoke with our staff about the project. StS seeks to provide more equitable access to STEAM educational opportunities through virtual sessions that allow real-time interactions with experts across a range of fields. Our crew was featured in a StS session showing how we collect data in the field.
Hilo’s First Annual Community Climate Fair
June 17, 2023: Our community outreach team, Maybeleen and Kili, participated in Hilo’s First Annual Community Climate Fair. We were so inspired after interacting with so many wonderful organizations who are working towards a greener Hawaii. This opportunity gave us the chance to meet with the public and share our research. Mahalo Kara Neal for organizing this incredible event; we hope to see you all next year!
Forest Field Trip
May 5, 2023: The Lowland Wet Forest Working Group visited the Liko Nā Pilina plots and other areas of the forest to discuss restoration strategies.
Educational Visit
October 2021: UH Hilo students visited the field to participate in an outplanting of trees to assist the Hawaii Army National Guard in further developing hybrid forest ecosystems. Students participated as part of the Kāwili Kine Culture program, an inter-departmental program collaboration with the UH Hilo Center for Global Education and Exchange and the University Housing Office, that was created to engage on-campus residents with opportunities in the local community. Read more about it!
Alumni Day!
May 2019: We held an event and invited all former project staff and some volunteers to come back and see the changes in the forest.
