(Honolulu) – Are you a community organization, non-profit, school, neighbor, or other groups working on promoting the health and well-being of your community through growing the trees and forest all around us?  This opportunity is for you!  The Kaulunani Advisory Council announces the last Community Grant Program funding opportunity for 2021 and invites grant proposals that focus on key elements of Kaulunani’s mission:   1) Health and Well-being and 2) Equity and Access. Groups and organizations from across the state are encouraged to apply.  Awards will range between $500-$7,500. The total pool is $43,000.

The mission of Kaulunani, the state’s Urban and Community Forestry Program with the  DLNR’s Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW), is “to support all of Hawai‘i’s communities to cultivate well-being and resilience through planting, caring for, and growing relationships with the trees and forests that we live with and that are crucial to the ecosystems on which we rely. We do this for our keiki, our kūpuna, ourselves, our ‘āina, and everyone’s future.”

To address the theme of health and well-being, proposals may focus on any dimension of physical, social, cultural, emotional, and psychological well-being health and well-being as promoted through trees, tree canopy, and forests. Proposals may also address these issues through outreach, education, and technical tools that promote health through trees/forests for underserved communities.  In acknowledgment of the uneven distribution of healthy and well-maintained urban tree canopy, forests, and fruit-bearing trees across our communities statewide, proposals may address equity and access by reversing inequities through increasing the presence of and access to trees, canopy, and forests in our urban and community spaces. Equity and access can also be addressed through outreach, education, and technical tools for underserved communities.  These interrelated issues are also highlighted as priorities in Hawaii’s Forest Action Plan, Urban & Community Forestry Section where each Priority Area describes current conditions, gaps, and issues of concern, as well as examples of strategies that may address these concerns.

Kaulunani will host an online interactive information session on Friday, June 4, 2021, from 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm. The deadline to submit proposals is July 12th, 2021 at 11:59 PM (HST).  Applications are submitted online. Links to register for the information session or submit an online application can be found below.

For more information about the Kaulunani Urban and Community Forestry Program, please contact Heather McMillen, DOFAW Urban & Community Forester, at heather.l.mcmillen@hawaii.gov. Contact the program at any time if you have any questions, or would like to discuss your project idea, at info@kaulunani.org.

RSVP for the Informational Session on June 4, 12-1 pm: https://forms.gle/aGPNbqv2zetABN4Z9

Apply online for an Urban & Community Forest Grant: https://www.cognitoforms.com/HawaiiDivisionOfForestryAndWildlife/KaulunaniUrbanCommunityForestryGrant2021

Hawaii’s Forest Action Plan, Urban & Community Forestry Section: https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/forestry/files/2019/03/Hawaii-Forest-Action-Plan-2016-Issue-4-UCF.pdf

Kaulunani website: www.kaulunani.org