MALU Initiative

Expanding tree canopies, empowering communities, and amplifying workforce development

What is the MALU Initiative?

The MALU Initiative is a transformative program by Kupu that protects and revitalizes Hawaiʻi’s natural landscapes, uplifts local communities, and promotes workforce development. Funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service, this five-year, $16 million grant program builds resilient ecosystems, raises community awareness, and amplifies career pathways in conservation across Hawaiʻi, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and American Samoa. Through the MALU Initiative, Kupu is fostering a sustainable future rooted in island values and environmental stewardship.

Our Key Focus Areas

  • MALU Subawards will strategically address issues related to tree canopy degradation, extreme weather impacts, and public health.

  • MALU aims to elevate the value of urban trees and community forestry activities by fostering community involvement in tree planting and care.

  • MALU will support a pipeline for training and career opportunities.

MALU Subawardees

  • $250,000  

    The project aims to expand native tree canopy and agroforestry, increase community awareness and engagement, and provide career and workforce development in CNMI.   

  • $249,999  

    This project will build local workforce capacity through on-the-job training with current watershed restoration efforts in the Ugum Watershed in southern Guam.

  • $250,000

    Ka Maha ʻUlu o Koholālele is a catalytic community-led initiative to transform approximately 100 acres of abandoned sugar plantation lands in the lowlands of Koholālele, Hāmākua, Hawaiʻi into Hawaiʻi’s largest regenerative ʻulu (breadfruit) agroforest. 

  • $146,597

    The project aims to restore Puuwaawaa's biocultural integrity through community-based stewardship, transforming degraded range lands into a thriving dryland forest of culturally significant species. 

  • $132,796  

    The project aims to restore Waipā's watershed and strengthen the resilience of both ʻāina and kānaka in Haleleʻa, Kauaʻi. 

  • $149,999  

    The project aims to build capacity for residential landscape assistance, and increase native tree canopy on Maui.   

  • $150,000  

    The project aims to expand plantings of loulu and niu at Holani Hana's 5-acre coastal 'aina in Papa'auhau, Hana, Maui.  

  • $67,760

    Through workforce development and community engagement, this project will expand niu cultivation at Mahele Farm

  • $241,799  

    The project aims to reforest a denuded upper watershed as a pilot project and demonstration for a future larger effort. Restoring the watershed for important habitats critical for maintaining water quality and healthy nearshore marine ecosystem. 

  • $249,976

    MAʻO ʻĀina Hoʻomalu aims to expand tree canopies, educate communities, and develop leaders. Partnering with four ʻāina-based organizations, the project will plant 2,000 trees and train 32 leaders. 

  • $170,336

    The Ulu a Lana ʻĀina Regeneration Initiative aims to restore the ecological and cultural health of Kailua’s landscapes by planting 200 trees, engaging the community in stewardship, and fostering a new generation of ʻāina leaders. 

  • $200,000  

    In the spirit of Hāloa, this project seeks to restore harmony and abundance to Kalihi by revitalizing its ecosystems, reconnecting the community to ancestral knowledge, and empowering a new generation of environmental stewards.

  • $175,719  

    The Mālama Learning Center (MLC) will launch He Malu, He Ola to increase Leeward Oʻahu's urban tree canopy, improving community health and well-being in underserved neighborhoods.

  • $248,662

    The Hāpai Kua Program tackles Hawai‘i’s ecological challenges by blending Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), skilled arts, and modern forestry practices. It focuses on restoration and workforce development. 

  • $165,556  

    The project aims to replant and protect native forests, trees and shrubs, in Waimea Valley Oahu. 

Contact Us!

For questions or more information contact Brant Chillingworth, Senior Program Director at malu@kupuhawaii.org. 

Funding provided by the USDA Forest Service, Urban and Community Forestry Program. Kupu is an equal opportunity provider.

Follow Us on Instagram, Facebook, and subscribe to our newsletter!