Final Round of 2021 Grants to Support Growing Community Forests

The Kaulunani Advisory Council hosts a final Community Grant Program funding opportunity for 2021 and invites grant proposals from community groups, nonprofits, schools and neighbors that are interested in growing community forests.

The Council is looking for projects that focus on key elements of their mission:  1) Health and Well-being and 2) Equity and Access. A total of $43,000 is available for grant awards will ranging from $500 to $7,500.

The mission of Kaulunani, the state’s Urban and Community Forestry Program with the  DLNR’s Division of Forestry and Wildlife, is “to support all of Hawai‘i’s communities to cultivate well-being and resilience through planting, caring for and growing relationships with the trees and forests that we live with and that are crucial to the ecosystems on which we rely. We do this for our keiki, our kūpuna, ourselves, our ‘āina and everyone’s future.”

To address the theme of health and well-being, proposals may focus on any dimension of physical, social, cultural, emotional, and psychological well-being health and well-being as promoted through trees, tree canopy, and forests. Proposals may also address these issues through outreach, education, and technical tools that promote health through trees/forests for underserved communities. 

In acknowledgement of the uneven distribution of healthy and well-maintained urban tree canopy, forests, and fruit bearing trees across communities statewide, proposals may address equity and access by reversing inequities. Equity and access can also be addressed through outreach, education, and technical tools for underserved communities. 

Kaulunani will host an online interactive information session on Friday June 4, 2021 from 12-1 p.m. The deadline to submit proposals is July 12, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. HST.  Applications should be submitted online. 

For more information about the Kaulunani Urban and Community Forestry Program, contact Heather McMillen, DOFAW Urban & Community Forester, at heather.l.mcmillen@hawaii.gov.