Despite pause in efforts, conservation groups press on Some scaled back reliance on volunteers in pandemic
When the COVID-19 pandemic kept volunteers from traveling to Kaho’olawe to help with planting, the weeds started to grow.
The 14 staff members of the Kaho’olawe Island Reserve Commission tried as much as they could to spread native plant seeds on the island, but it could not match the level of plantings and seedlings that a large group of volunteers could offer, said Michael Naho’opi’i, the commission’s executive director.
While a pause in human activity during the pandemic gave the environment some relief, it also took a toll on local conservation groups who halted projects and scaled back volunteers as the virus spread across the world last year.
“It just reduced the number of people we can have,” said Naho’opi’i, whose group once took 15 volunteers per trip to the island but has halved the limit due to health restrictions.
