Mahi Pono Seeking Volunteers for Statewide Tree Planting Day with ReTree Hawaiʻi

Mahi Pono is seeking volunteers to plant trees. Photo Courtesy: Mahi Pono

For Hawaiʻi’s 2020 Tree Planting Day, Maui farming company Mahi Pono will plant 300 native milo and ulu trees in partnership with ReTree Hawaiʻi.

Mahi Pono is seeking volunteers to help plant trees on Oct. 30 from 9 to 11 am at Field 609 next to Sunnyside Road off Hana Highway. The trees will be planted in Mahi Pono’s new 15-acre ulu orchard. Interested volunteers can sign up on the ReTree website.

Governor David Ige proclaimed Oct. 30, 2020 as Statewide Tree Planting Day to help fight climate change. The goal for the day is to plant 100,000 trees with 10,000 volunteers on 1,000 sites across the state.

As part of the Maui event, Mahi Pono will give each volunteer a citrus tree to take home and a manual on how to plant it properly. Volunteers also receive lunch, drinks and a bag of locally-grown papayas and potatoes from Mahi Pono’s farm.

Milo and ulu trees are native plants that serve important agricultural purposes. As a drought and salt-tolerant tree, milo is an ideal windbreak plant while ulu is a staple Polynesian food crop that produces nutritious and versatile fruit.