Grants support programs to mitigate climate change impacts Total of $77,000 awarded

Grants support programs to mitigate climate change impacts
Total of $77,000 awarded
HONOLULU, Feb. 2, 2022 – Hawaiian Electric has awarded grants totalling $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:
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