The Office of Hawaiian Affairs recently awarded the Maui Nui Botanical Gardens a $9,900 grant to support a new conservation event on the Valley Isle.
Ola Ka Honua–scheduled for June 2014 at the botanical gardens in Kahului–will showcase the island’s Hawaiian cultural practitioners and their arts. Conservation and Hawaiian cultural organizations will host information booths to educate participants about their organization’s role to mālama ‘āina (care for the land/sea).
Ola Ka Honua was designed to provide Native Hawaiians and the Maui community with a free opportunity to increase interest in the conservation of Maui Nui’s natural resources. An additional goal of the event is to encourage participants to engage in traditional Hawaiian cultural practices–many of which depend upon natural resources–with the overall goal of becoming better stewards of the land.
“We are excited to offer this new event to our community and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs is making this possible,” said Maui Nui Botanical Gardens Executive Director Joylynn Paman.
Maui Nui Botanical Gardens also will have a Native Hawaiian plant sale during the event. In addition, there will be food, games and entertainment for the entire family.
The six-acre Maui Nui Botanical Gardens is the only botanical garden in the state that focuses on Hawaiian coastal plants from the islands of Maui, Molokai, Lanai, Kaho‘olawe and Molokini. It’s operated and managed by Maui Nui Botanical Gardens, Inc., a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization established in 1995. Their mission is to foster appreciation and understanding of Maui Nui’s plants and their role in Hawaiian cultural expression by providing a gathering place for discovery, education and conservation. For more information, visit mnbg.org or call 808-249-2798.
Photo: Forest & Kim Starr/Wikimedia Commons
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