mtanji@mauinews.com
Volunteers Nevaeh Howard (in blue) and Elena Beauchamp-Estrella (in red) volunteer on Kahoâolawe in February. With the ongoing pandemic, Kahoâolawe Island Reserve Commission has cut their volunteers making the trip to the island in half. Photo courtesy Kahoâolawe Island Reserve Commission
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.