Volunteers replant Keawaiki Park at Lahaina Harbor with native plants

On Dec. 6, representatives from the three Lahaina Rotary Clubs, Treecovery and the Lahaina Restoration Foundation came together to replant Keawaiki Park with native Hawaiian trees, groundcover and vines.

Located in front of Lahaina Harbor, the park has two shade trellises, a flagpole, benches and is paved with bricks. During the day, volunteers planted Coastal Sandalwood and two Queen Kukui Nut trees, added Aiʻai as groundcover and trained pohuehue vines along the trellis, helping to restore the park with native vegetation and support the long-term health of the landscape.

“Although the courthouse burned in the August 2023 fire, as did the boats in the harbor, the wooden trellis structure at Keawaiki Park was spared. However, all the plants and trees at the park burned,” said Lahaina Restoration Foundation Executive Director Theo Morrison. “It is wonderful to see new life come back to the park.”

This planting is part of the larger Lahaina Harbor Front Improvement Project, a community-driven initiative that began in 2012. Over nine months of public workshops, residents and cultural practitioners helped shape a vision to revitalize Lahaina’s historic harbor front, including improving parks and open spaces, creating pedestrian-friendly areas and highlighting Hawaiian cultural and historic sites.

Keawaiki Park was completed and opened to the public in 2017. Organizers said the latest planting reflects an ongoing commitment to restoring Lahaina’s cultural and natural landscape as the community continues rebuilding following the 2023 fire.