Makiki watershed project restores native forest

By Michael Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

State employee Aaron Lowe, with volunteer Jen Saufler behind him, works on cribbing to keep gravel on the trail. Recyclable plastic is among materials used. Photos by Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

This pahinahina planted along a Makiki trail is protected by mesh.

Spearheaded by O'ahu trails and access specialist Aaron Lowe of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources' Na Ala Hele program, the Makiki Watershed Awareness Initiative is an ambitious project aimed at restoring native forest, enhancing the existing watershed, and rerouting a key junction on the Makiki Valley Loop Trail.

Lowe and a small group of volunteers are in the midst of the hard work of connecting the Kanealole Trail to the Maunalaha Trail on the slopes of Tantalus. The trail is both scenic and historic, crossing the Moleka and Kanaiole streams and meandering along century-old walls and carriage-road remnants.

After three years of work, they had hoped to be done by June, to coincide with Year of the Hawaiian Forest observances. A loss of financing and an onerous workload may delay that, Lowe says.

The new route bypasses the trailhead at the O'ahu Division of Forestry Base Yard.

"It just makes for a nicer, safer path," Lower said.

A restoration area along the trail has been cleared out and planted with more than 280 native Hawaiian plants, including pohinahina, akia, 'ilima, mo'o and 'ohai.

Sparse rains over the past six months have caused streams to slow, so coastal plants are faring better than mountain ones. Still, when the plantings fill out, and once the pink marking ribbons are removed, the reforested area will look and function like a native forest.

The team is removing invasive weeds, strategically planting indigenous and endemic plants, creating water diversions and grading dips to stabilize the earth in the area. That should mean less erosion and better water retention in the project area.

"We're trying to do a little chunk of native forest in the Valley of the Vines," said Lowe. "It's tough. ... (Na Ala Hele) oversees thousands of acres of forest land. Here we're trying to do two acres, and it's been a real uphill battle."

Lowe's inconspicuous neo-forestry approach is a contrast to the more imposing style of earlier trail builders, evident in the long, straight rows of Cook Island pines along one section of the loop.

"Around the turn of the (20th) century, foresters planted a lot of forest trees," Lowe said. "The idea was to develop a watershed because there was a quite a bit of degradation due to domesticated animals. They achieved their goal.

"Now, 100 years later, we're working on keeping the forest healthy, but also making the forest a little more native."

On a recent humid, 90-degree Saturday, Lowe and a half-dozen volunteers sawed tree trunks into easy-to-decompose chunks, tended to plants trampled by wild pigs, and outlined a new section of trail with recycled plastic lumber.

With Lowe directing, the volunteers shaped a level trench. When the borders are set, the section will be filled in with four inches of gravel, providing stable footing for hikers.

Nearby lay foundations for two new bridges and several calf-high posts where, financing permitting, a series of signs will be mounted to educate hikers on historical trail features, names of plants and threats to the watershed.

When the project is completed, the nearby Hawai'i Nature Center will serve as the primary trailhead, with an information kiosk as well as the existing rain shelter.

A boot-cleaning station already acts as a sort of conservation model, with the goal of preservation and protection: The roof catches rain water, and gutters direct it to a catchment tank. The water is used to clean boots. A trap filters out solids before the water flows to the ground, minimizing transfer of weed seeds and sediments.

The project

What: The Makiki Watershed Awareness Initiative ("Makiki WAI"), a project by the state Department of Land and Natural Resources' Na Ala Hele trails and access program, has taken on refurbishment of a hillside trail, building a new section to re-route it into a more attractive area, removing invasive foreign plants and planting indigenous or endemic Hawaiian plants while reducing soil erosion.

Where: Makiki Valley Loop Trail, near the Hawai'i Nature Center

Cost: About $30,000

Completion: next summer

Volunteers: Project head Aaron Lowe works with volunteers every Saturday. The group meets 9 a.m. at the Division of Forestry and Wildlife office, 2135 Makiki Heights Drive.

Information: 973-9782