Arbor Day Hawaiʻi 2026 features activities throughout November to celebrate trees on the Big Island
The activities demonstrate the vital role trees play by providing shade, improving air quality, supporting wildlife habitat and reducing stormwater runoff and erosion.
Arbor Day Hawaiʻi 2026 kicks off Thursday with events throughout the month.
Residents and visitors are invited to enjoy tree-related activities on Hawaiʻi Island, Maui, Molokaʻi, Oʻahu and Kauaʻi featuring tree giveaways, community plantings and tree care workshops, a news release said.
“Arbor Day Hawaiʻi is about more than planting trees. It is an opportunity to strengthen connections between people and place,” said Dr. Heather McMillen, an urban and community forester with the Kaulunani Urban and Community Forestry Program of the state Division of Forestry and Wildlife.
The Kaulunani program supports these efforts by fostering community involvement in the stewardship of trees and forests throughout Hawaiʻi.
Activities provide opportunities to recognize the vital role trees play by providing shade, improving air quality, supporting wildlife habitat and reducing stormwater runoff and erosion.
Arbor Day also is a chance to appreciate the importance of native Hawaiian and Polynesian-introduced trees — species like kou, milo, ʻulu and niu — that have sustained the people, traditions and landscapes of Hawaiʻi for generations.
Hawaiʻi Island events:
- Thursday, Nov. 5, 4–6:30 p.m. – Explore a 48-acre restoration landscape in the heart of Kona’s native Hawaiian dry forest at Joseph Rock Arboretum, Kailua-Kona.
- Friday, Nov. 6, 8 a.m.–1 p.m. – Native and non-native plant sale at Waimea State Tree Nursery, Kamuela. Cash only.
- Friday, Nov. 6, noon-5 p.m. –Terraformation will host a native tree giveaway in Kailua-Kona. Meet restoration professionals for care tips and native plant resources.
- Saturday, Nov. 7, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. – Plant adoption, native plant sale and tree care demo at Amy Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden, Captain Cook.
- Saturday, Nov. 7, noon-2 p.m. – Keaʻau Arbor Day tree giveaway at Sure Foundation Church, Keaʻau.
- Saturday, Nov. 14, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. – Free plant adoptions, children’s activities and workshops on native wreath making, wildfire mitigation and kapa-making at West Hawaiʻi Civic Center, Kailua-Kona.
- Saturday, Nov. 21, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. – Spend the day with Kaiāulu Puʻuwaʻawaʻa & Partners learning about and caring for Puʻuwaʻawaʻa community-based subsistence forest area, North Kona.
Some events require registration. More details can be found at the Kaulunani website.
