Trees Help East Hawaii Recovery

HILO AND OTHER COMMUNITIES on the east side of the Big Island suffered a double whammy of disasters in 2018. In May, 2,000 residents were sent fleeing from earthquakes and a major lava flow from Kilauea’s eastern rift zone. Then, in August, the area was brushed by Hurricane Lane and inundated with 18 inches of rain in a 24-hour period. It was the wettest storm in Hawaii’s recorded history and caused damaging floods and landslides.

Last June, the Arbor Day Foundation’s Community Tree Recovery program teamed up with Hawaii’s Outdoor Circle and distributed 914 native fruit and shade trees to grateful local residents. “Not only will this help mitigate the damage and stabilize the land when future storms hit, the trees will provide food sources for the families,” said Lachel Bradley-Williams, Arbor Day Foundation program manager. Over the next 40 years, the trees will also capture 9,650 tons of carbon dioxide, save more than $1.3 million in energy costs, remove 30 tons of air pollutants, and intercept more than 28 million gallons of rainfall.

Outdoor Circle, a nonprofit organization dedicated to keeping Hawaii clean, green, and beautiful, was essential in helping distribute the free trees and teaching recipients how to plant and care for them. This successful project was another of the many made possible through Foundation member donations and corporate partnerships that support the Community Tree Recovery program.