$77,000 in grants support programs to mitigate climate change impacts

Hawaiian Electric has awarded grants totaling $77,000 to seven environmental and conservation nonprofit organizations whose programs are aimed at mitigating the effects of climate change through education, stewardship and reforestation.

The Hawaiʻi Nature Center will use the funds for its 2022 school and community programs on Oʻahu and Maui that immerse children in the wonders of nature and fosters their awareness, appreciation, understanding and stewardship of Hawaiʻi’s environment.

Hawaiʻi Wildfire Management Organization, based in Kamuela, Hawaiʻi Island, intends to mobilize three wildfire collaboratives consisting of key partners, landowners and managers from high-risk wildfire regions across the state with the goal of expanding educational outreach and sharing mitigation planning, preparedness and best practices.

Mālama Learning Center will continue its Ola Nā Kini program – which is focused on regenerating native and edible forests and communities in the Honouliuli and Nānākuli watersheds through education and engagement – with a segment on wildfire mitigation.

Moanalua Gardens Foundation will expand its Mālama Kamananui environmental education programs for the next generation of environmental stewards by utilizing online learning through partner schools with experiential field and place-based learning opportunities.

North Shore Community Land Trust has designated funds for the Kahuku Point Restoration Project to ensure a healthy, functioning and resilient coastal strand ecosystem that provides habitat for native plants and animals, recreational opportunities for the community and a place to perpetuate traditional Hawaiian practices.

Protect & Preserve Hawaiʻi, a community-based conservation group, is working to restore 330 acres of forest in the Pia/Niu Valley area of East Honolulu using both native and Hawaiian cultural plants that will increase habitat for threatened and endangered species, increase watershed recharge, sequester carbon, reduce runoff, and increase the water quality of Maunalua Bay.

Trees for Honolulu’s Future seeks to improve the urban tree canopy by planting, caring for and protecting trees, especially critical as the island warms due to climate change.