Volunteering: What to Expect

Planting volunteers, please apply your prodigious energy and aloha to other worthy projects, while Auwahi staff focus on some urgent reporting deadlines for the next month or two. We'll post new Auwahi planting dates once this hurdle is passed. Mahalo for your patience and mana`o!

Due to the rough and steep terrain, WE REQUIRE HIKING BOOTS TO BE WORN THAT COVER THE ANKLE, and unfortunately, we will have to turn folks away without proper boots. Plan to pack layered clothing, raingear, two liters of water, lunch, sunscreen and a hat.

Please clean all your gear, backpacks and boots and leave hitchhiking seeds behind to prevent the spread of weeds into the restoration site.

RSVP as soon as possible (or at least by the Thursday prior to the trip) to reserve a seat at: auwahi@yahoo.com, or at 573-8989.

Please download, print, read, understand and sign these TWO liability releases: Auwahi Waiver / ʻUlupalakua Waiver and bring them with you.

Where: ʻUlupalakua Ranch Store - from central Maui, take Hana Highway (Route 36) To Haleakala Highway (Route 37). At Keokea, stay to the right and continue 5.2 miles to ʻUlupalakua (map).

Mahalo nui loa for your dedicated support and hard work. A hui hou!

WHY DO WE CLEAN OUR HIKING BOOTS AND GEAR ?

We do it to leave all hitchhiking seeds behind! Introducing a new weed into the restoration site could compromise the years of work it’s taken to produce such an amazing comeback of the native vegetation. It is crucial that everything taken into Auwahi’s fenced exclosure contributes to this unique forest's regeneration.

We need your kokua in protecting this special place. That’s why we require all volunteers and staff to thoroughly clean their gear, backpacks and boots.

Ke 'olu'olu (please) take the following steps to support our efforts to bring back the native Hawaiian dryland forest of Auwahi:

Step 1: Take off your boots. Loosen the ties and use a bristle brush to clean the upper portion of the boot, including the tongue and behind the laces.

Step 2: To dislodge loose dirt and seeds, hit each boot on a hard surface such as the road or cement several times.

Step 3: Turn the boots over and use the brush to scrub along the edge of the sole and on the sole itself. Be sure to scrub between the ridges where dirt and seeds can lodge.

Step 4: Repeat step 2.

Hint: The next time you visit Auwahi or any other native habitat, take these precautions before you come. Contribute to native species protection by preventing further spread of invasive species.

Mahalo no ka mālama 'ana i nā waokele maoli o Maui!

Thank you for caring for the native forests of Maui!