COVID-19 Can’t Keep Our Trees Down
by Randy Ching, Chapter Service Trip Coordinator
The Mālama Tree Crew might not be able to gather in large groups but this hasn't stopped a couple of hard core volunteers and I from caring for the trees at Ala Mahamoe and Akupu. Climate scientists anticipate this will be the hottest year on Earth, so the crew's main goal is to get the recently planted trees through the summer—if they can survive the summer, they will be strong enough to continue on their own.
In Moanalua at the Ala Mahamoe site, Sherry, Jason and I have been cutting guinea grass, watering trees, and laying down weed mats and cloth over the cut grass to access the trees that we are caring for. On the advice of Koʻolau Mountain Watershed Program, we stopped planting trees at the end of March but are hoping to plant more trees starting in October, when it's cooler.
Randy & his plants in the Akupu Enclosure
In late April, we did a tree count, counting 403 trees. About 300 of those trees are the survivors of a thousand that were planted in a single day back in November 2018. Koʻolau Mountain Watershed Program and Sierra Club volunteers have planted about a hundred trees since then that the crew has adopted. There are six species that are the most abundant in the 403 trees—ʻaʻaliʻi, milo, wiliwili, kukui, koa, and kou.
In Pālehua at the Akupu Enclosure, Sherry and I have been weeding and cutting guinea grass, fertilizing and watering 35 trees. The first of these were planted 14 months ago and a few have been planted this year. The trees are lonomea, lama and koa. The koa is doing great, the lonomea is hanging in there and the lama is growing extremely slowly. We recently also found a lonomea tree while clearing the grass that had been "lost" for at least three months. Such small miracles make the work rewarding. We will continue with the maintenance once or twice each month through the summer.
Keeping the trees alive during the hot summer will require lots of watering. If you'd like to help, please contact me here.
Randy Ching has volunteered with the Hawaiʻi Chapter and Oʻahu Group for over 25 years and has been instrumental in building and maintaining countless trails around the state, planting thousands of trees, advocating for climate change mitigation and adaptation, mentoring new outings leaders, and so much more. As Service Trip Program Coordinator, Randy aims to revamp the Service Trip program and link the outings program together with climate change advocacy.