KAILUA — Water quality and native birds will benefit from an erosion control project on the stream banks of Kawai Nui marsh.

The best management practices demonstration project at Kawainui Neighborhood Park (Kaha Park) will use native Hawaiian xeriscape plants and be an educational tool for residents who want to learn more about protecting slopes from runoff, said Todd Cullison, executive director for the Kailua Bay Advisory Council.

"These are plant species you might historically have found along (the banks) area, the waterways," Cullison said. "It was a passive park and we've turned it more into an active park where folks can go to educate themselves."

The council spearheaded the $200,000 project using money from the Clean Water Branch of the state Department of Health, he said.

This weekend the nonprofit group 'Ahahui Malama I Ka Lokahi, which is involved with restoration and planting projects throughout the marsh, is calling for volunteers to help maintain the new project.

"This community service project is a way to build awareness," said Kaimi Scudder, administrator for 'Ahahui. "We're also looking at raising some funds to do some planting on the marsh side but they said no trees on the levee, just ground cover."

The project done by native plant nurseryman Rick Barboza called for clearing mangrove and Java plum from about 400 feet of stream bank, said Barboza, owner of Hui Ku Maoli Ola, a Native Hawaiian-plant nursery. He also planted 250 feet of ground cover along nearby homes, a 100-foot-diameter half-circle and 50 feet of space in the parking lot.

"There's probably 40 to 50 different native plants," Barboza said, including 'ae'ae, 'ahu'awa and 'akulikuli on the slopes. The 'ae'ae and 'ahu'awa are beneficial to native wetland birds, he said.

'Ae'ae attracts crustaceans that the birds like to eat and the 'ahu'awa is used for nesting material and shelter for the young babies, Barboza said.

"Once 'akulikuli gets fully established they'll go into the water and they're like a floating mat to help clean out the water," he said.

He also installed a doggy bag station to dispose of pet waste and to supply plastic bags.

Beside wide swaths of ground cover, bushes and trees, Barboza also planted specimen plants so that people can see such things as na'u, the Hawaiian gardenia; 'ohai, which is an endangered plant that grows at Ka'ena Point; different types of kalo; hao, the native member of the plumeria family; and ma'ohauhele, the state flower.

"The place was meant to be like a community garden," he said. "There's a lot of people who use the park and walk through there and hopefully they can learn about the plants that are there."