Early in the morning on Saturday, more than 50 volunteers hiked up the Kuliʻouʻou Ridge Trail to aid the Aloha Tree Alliance’s (ATA) native plant restoration project.
Volunteers of all ages worked together to carry buckets of water, plants and tools up the mountain. By early afternoon, 300 native plants had been planted back into their indigenous environment, paving the way for a more sustainable future.
“I feel like here, you can really connect things, and that your work is actually making a difference,” said Eli Livezey, ATA’s field and nursery manager.
The ATA is an Oʻahu based nonprofit organization dedicated to mitigating climate change through the restoration of native plants, specifically at the Kuliʻouʻou Ridge Trail. One of their missions focuses on building community.
“No matter their age, ability, interest, everyone is welcome here,” said Harley Didriksen, ATA’s education coordinator.
Several volunteers expressed their gratitude to the program’s warm welcome. Alexandra Knapp, one of the returning program volunteers, said it provides her the opportunity to be out in nature and give back to the community.
“Being in the forest and among the trees is very healing for most people and rejuvenating,” Arlynna Livingston, the founder of ATA said, “and it creates community of like minded people—people that care about the environment.”

Another volunteer, Miranda Oda, who has been with the program since October 2024, explained her own positive experience with ATA.
“It’s been so meditative and fun and heartwarming and I feel like it’s a community,” Oda said.
The community work day, held every third Saturday of the month, was just one of the many opportunities ATA offers. Training earth stewards of all ages is a mission ATA is dedicated to, through their educational programs.
“I think educating future generations to be more mindful and caretakers of nature is a way to help them prepare for what we have to deal with in the future,” Livingston commented.
A recently developed program ATA offers is called Āina Allies, which is an internship for high school and college aged students. Āina Allies provides recognition for students’ dedication to the program and is a great opportunity to learn about the native environment at Kuliʻouʻou Ridge Trail.
Oda, who was born and raised on Oʻahu and attended Punahou High School, remarked that volunteering with ATA has helped her become more aware of Native Hawaiian culture through its lessons of native plants and planting methods.
“We are not taught this in school to be honest,” Oda said. “We learn more about Hawaiian history such as the different kings and the different wars though we didn’t really learn about the environment.”
Oda added that this opportunity to learn about the native environment would be good for local school children as well as community members looking for a fun way to learn about the land. Other volunteers and staff members of ATA expressed similar thoughts.
“I think you can learn a lot of Native Hawaiian culture through learning their use of plants, and the history around plants,” Livezey said.
While ATA does not have any Native Hawaiian members of staff, they look to cultural practitioners to ensure they are being respectful of the land and working with the native ecosystem in a way that gives the plants the best chance of survival.
“We make a point to learn about all the traditional uses of the native plants and share those with our volunteers,” said Didriksen. “It makes people feel more connected to them and understand their importance culturally.”
To pay respect to the island and the culture, the ATA staff lead the volunteers through a Native Hawaiian chant called “E Hō Mai,” at the beginning of each work day. The chant is a way for the group to announce their presence to the land, and ask for entry and permission to steward the land.

Tara Morisato, the program manager at ATA, discussed the importance of respecting both the Hawaiian lands and culture. Morisato started working with the program in April 2024 while she was still a student at UC Irvine. She grew up in Hawaiʻi and has continued to pursue her passions in environmental protections here on Oʻahu.
“When you learn about a place you feel more connected to it,” Morisato commented.“I just became a lot more grounded in the place I came from [after joining ATA].”
Morisato added that volunteer activities, similar to the ones held by ATA, help people understand places they live in or visit. Additionally, she brought up a concern about some tourists and college students viewing the Hawaiian islands as a place solely for recreation.
“Everyone is guilty of this, once we go on vacation we think we owe nothing to the place that we go. I wanna change that mentality in people so that we recognize that, when we go somewhere, that’s someone else’s place where they grew up and they will be there forever. So we need to take care of it whether we live there or not,” said Morisato.
One of the many programs ATA partners with is The Coconut Travelers, an organization that promotes ecotourism. Ecotourism helps tourists visit in a more sustainable manner through educating them on the native land and culture—through hands-on work. Whether the opportunities come from Coconut Traveler, ATA, or any similar volunteer programs, they are a great way of slowly working toward the pressing issue Morisato addresses.
The founder of ATA discussed the importance of organizations such as these working together and learning from each other for a more sustainable climate future.
“Climate change is real,” Livingston said. “Trees and plants have made life possible for us. We need to make space and help rescue them.”

Livingston discussed how projects that draw attention to the issue of climate change and give people hands-on experience will help make a difference. ATAʻs efforts alone cannot halt the climate crisis. Other communities must follow their lead on these efforts.
“We need this type of community-led action everywhere,” Didriksen stated.
All individuals combating the climate crisis may potentially feel discouraged at one point or another but Livingston advised something very important.
“Don’t focus on all of the frightening scary things that are going on in the world, and with the environment, you put your energy into doing something about it,” Livingston concluded.