BlueʻAina Partners with West Maui Ridge to Reef Initiative
Title: Support Your Watershed
Where: Honokowai Beach Park
Early April, Trilogy conducted a land based BlueʻAina planting and cleanup event at Honokowai Beach Park and Napili Bay. Caring for our precious coral reefs goes well beyond removing trash and debris from the reef itself. Throughout 2017 Trilogy will be conducting both land and water based cleanups to fulfill our mission of helping Maui mauka to makai. DeSilva Meeting Consultants chose to sponsor the non-profit West Maui Ridge to Reef Initiative.
Our small group of volunteers met at Honokowai Beach Park where we got to know each other as well as our leader, Wes. Chemicals from the roadway, parking lots, and houses all run into the drainage way and down to into the ocean. Strategically planting certain plants along the slopes of the drainage aids in removing nutrients and controlling erosion. Sunshine vetiver was developed by the University of Hawaii. Their roots grow straight down about 3ft and suck up the aforementioned detrimental nutrients. Wes guided us in vetiver usage and planting along a drainage way near the ocean. We also snagged up all the trash floating in the drainage way making the area as clean as possible.
Our next spot brought us up north to a stream near Napili Bay. Here we were guided by our leader, Joe, who explained the function and merits of planting in this stream. Our volunteers performed maintenance tasks such as weeding, removing dead material and pulling non-natives.
DeSilva Meeting Consultants has supported the BlueʻAina campaign for a few years now and we were happy to have their help again in 2017. A handful of employees joined Trilogy and got dirty and sweaty as we planted and pulled. It was a pleasure getting to connect with these like-minded individuals while making our local environment healthier.
The West Maui Ridge to Reef (R2R) Initiative leads an all-encompassing approach across multiple agencies and organizations to address adverse impacts to coral reefs in West Maui. The State of Hawaii has recognized that an integrated and comprehensive approach to reducing land-based sources of pollution is one of the most important steps to help restore coral reef ecosystems. The R2R Initiative builds on already established efforts underway and leverages resources across a number of agencies and community groups to implement actions to reduce one of the key sources of reef decline: land-based sources of pollution. The objective of the R2R is to restore and enhance the health and resiliency of West Maui coral reefs and near-shore waters through the reduction of land-based pollution threats from the summit of Pu`u Kukui to the outer reef.
When you live on an island it is easy for small environmental issues to turn into larger ones quickly. It takes a team of diligent and committed individuals to keep all of Maui beautiful, mauka to makai. To get involved in a future BlueʻAina cleanup, head over to the Trilogy Blue’Aina Campaign web page. We look forward to seeing you!
By Conservation and Education Director, Magen Schifiliti