Today we spent the majority of time weeding in the middle portion of the site area. I hadn't been there in almost a year and was struck by how much the weeds (papyrus, ginger, and grasses) had nearly overgrown the area. A troop of about 40 volunteers broke into 2 groups and began tackling the unruly invaders. The area had been replanted with several natives including uki uki (lilly), mamaki and ava.
Mamaki Mamaki is a type of hawaiian nettle that is commonly dried and made into tea. Moani explained that mamki is one of the first plants to be planted along the stream bank when trying to restore native vegetation. Mamaki can handle flash flooding and are useful in stabilizing the soil along the banks to prevent erosion. |