The Hawaiian Legacy Reforestation Initiative (HLRI) is a Hawaii-based

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...

nonprofit organization founded in 2014 that works to reforest endemic trees and restore native habitat for wildlife. This includes

koa KOA (short for Kampgrounds of America) is an American franchise of privately owned campgrounds. Having more than 500 locations across the United States and Canada, it is the world's largest system of privately owned campgrounds. It was founded in ...

, ‘ōhi‘a, māmane,

naio ''Myoporum sandwicense'', commonly known as ''naio'', bastard sandalwood or false sandalwood is a species of flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae. It is a tree or shrub highly variable in its form, the size and shape of its ...

, ko‘oko‘olau, kūkaenēnē and ‘iliahi trees.

History

HLRI is working to reforest 1.3 million endemic trees throughout Hawaii. To date, it has reforested more than 400,000 trees across 1,200 leased acres along the

Hamakua Coast Hāmākua is a district on the northeast coast of Hawaii's Big Island, administered by the County of Hawaii in the state of Hawaii. It is also the name given for the coastline in the region, the "Hāmākua Coast". Description Hāmākua's coast ...

Hawaii Island Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii ) is the largest island in the United States, located in the state of Hawaii. It is the southeasternmost of the Hawaiian Islands, a chain of volcanic islands in the North Pacific Ocean. With an area of , it has 63% of t ...

. In April 2017, HLRI expanded its Hawaii Island operations to a second location, at Kahua Ranch on the western slope of the

Kohala Mountains Kohala is the oldest of five volcanoes that make up the island of Hawaii. Kohala is an estimated one million years old—so old that it experienced, and recorded, the reversal of earth's magnetic field 780,000 years ago. It is believed to h ...

, that will encompass 700 acres with 250,000 trees. HLRI is expanding operations to the North Shore of Oahu at Gunstock Ranch at Malaekahana. Trees are planted through sponsorships and partnerships. Each tree is tagged with

RFID chip Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. An RFID system consists of a tiny radio transponder, a radio receiver and transmitter. When triggered by an electrom ...

and GPS technology, which track and verify health and growth characteristics. In 2014, HLRI was one of four international organizations recognized with the Phoenix Award by the Society of American Travel Writers for its work in conservation, preservation, beautification and anti-pollution campaigns. Multi-use agriculture components of the forest include

Kona coffee Kona coffee is the market name for coffee ('' Coffea arabica'') cultivated on the slopes of Hualalai and Mauna Loa in the North and South Kona Districts of the Big Island of Hawaii. It is one of the most expensive coffees in the world. Only coff ...

farming and the harvesting of honey from koa tree blossoms. The current executive director is Jeff Dunster, and the current chairman is John Farias Jr.

References

External links

* Conservation and environmental foundations in the United States Environmental organizations based in Hawaii Organizations established in 2014 2014 establishments in Hawaii {{Hawaii-stub