MidWeek East - March 17, 2021

FOR THE WEEK OF MARCH 17, 2021
CHINESE CELEBRATIONS
The folks at Pālolo Chi- nese Home ring in
the lunar new year. SEE PAGE 7
CLEANING UP KAIMUKĪ
Sustainable Coastlines Hawai‘i hosts a cleanup and debuts its first office. SEE PAGES 1011
Mural Goes Up On Wai‘alae Avenue
A PUBLICATION OF
AN EDITION OF
Artist Wyatt Hersey paints a mural in Kaimukī for Hawai‘i Neighborhood Forests’ campaign Treehooo! PHOTO COURTESY TAMARA RIGNEY
BWY EAST O‘AHU VOICE STAFF
hen local residents noticed a de- cline in trees, they joined forces to create Hawaiʻi Neighborhood
Forests, a community project by botanical bou- tique Paiko with support from Kaulunani Ur- ban and Community Forestry Program.
According to the organization, more than 76,000 trees were removed and not replaced in Honolulu over the course of four years, with 39% of them being on residential properties.
Last summer, the nonprofit launched a public service announcement campaign called Treehooo! and, most recently, created a mural on Waiʻalae Avenue in Kaimukī.
During the first week of March, Califor- nia-based artist Wyatt Hersey was hard at work decorating an east-facing wall above Pua Hana with hopes to showcase the area’s vegetation.
The colorful piece says “Trees Make Kaimukī Home,” which was chosen because, according to Hawaiʻi Neighborhood Forests, the area has only 17% of low canopy cover, as compared to Honolulu’s 23%.
Those who are interested in learning more or want to get involved can visit treehooo.org.