Photo courtesy John Dobovan (jd-pro.com/)

Been on the Mānoa Cliff Trail lately?

I admit, I have not. If you have, you may have wondered about the fenced area along the Mānoa Cliff Trail between junctions with Pu’u ‘Ōhi’a and Pauoa Flats Trails.

It’s the Mānoa Cliff Forest Restoration Project and was initiated by UH graduate student Mashuri Waite in 2005. The project has a permit from the Na Ala Hele to restore this section of land owned by the State of Hawai’i. Na Ala Hele is responsible for the state trail system program and is part of Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW), a section of the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR). DLNR constructed the fence to keep feral pigs out of 6 acres of the site in late 2009.

This all-volunteer project meets every Sunday for half‐day restoration events. Everyone is invited. They meet at the Mānoa Cliff and Moleka Trailheads near 4000 Round Top at 9:00 am, then hike to the restoration area and work (mostly weeding) until lunchtime. You can do light work or more strenuous work.

Their website has more information, some good plant links, and good detail photos of native and invasive plants useful to us Tantalites even when we’re gardening our own bit of forest. www.manoacliff.org

I met some of these folks at the Hawai‘i Agricultural Research Center recently. They seem very knowledgeable and are definitely friendly. Try join them if you have the time and would like to learn about a forest restoration project in our community back yard.

Happy Gardening, Good Hiking,
– Diana

(Article excerpted from March 2013 Tantalus Community Association Newsletter)