Volunteer Directory
Give Back to the Islands Through Mālama ʻĀina
The Mālama ʻĀina Directory: Your Island-by-Island Guide
The most rewarding souvenir you can take home from Hawaiʻi is not an object, but a memory of connection—the feeling of your hands in the soil, the satisfaction of clearing an invasive weed, the shared laughter with new friends working toward a common goal. This is the gift of "voluntourism."
The statewide Mālama Hawaiʻi Program encourages this very exchange, connecting visitors with organizations across the islands. In some cases, participating hotels even offer a discount or a free night in return for your service, a tangible mahalo for your kōkua (help). These organizations are the modern-day stewards of the ahupuaʻa philosophy, the konohiki (land managers) of our time.
By volunteering, you are participating in a contemporary version of the ancient, successful system of community-based care. There is a form of mālama for everyone, regardless of physical ability or time commitment.
OʻAHU
Marine Conservation & Cultural Restoration
Mālama Maunalua
Focus: Marine Conservation
Activity: Remove invasive algae (limu) from Maunalua Bay and participate in coral restoration projects.
How to Join: Individuals can join scheduled events; groups can arrange private workdays.
Email: volunteer@malamamaunalua.org
Kualoa Ranch Private Nature Reserve
Focus: Cultural & Environmental Stewardship
Activity: Mālama Experience - work in traditional loʻi (taro patches), thatching Hawaiian hale (houses), and tending medicinal plant gardens.
How to Join: Book directly through their website.
Mālama Loko Ea Foundation
Focus: Cultural Site Restoration
Activity: Help restore a historic Hawaiian fishpond on the North Shore.
When: Community workdays every Saturday morning.
Registration required via their website.
Papahana Kuaola
Focus: Cultural & Environmental Stewardship
Activity: Stream restoration by removing invasive species or work in a loʻi to prep, weed, and plant kalo.
When: 3rd and 4th Saturdays of the month.
MAUI
Marine & Land Conservation
Pacific Whale Foundation
Focus: Mālama Pono Program - Marine & Land Conservation
Activity: Outplanting native species, beach cleanups, restoring cultural sites, and working in community gardens.
How to Join: Check the Mālama Pono Calendar on their website.
Hawaiʻi Land Trust (HILT)
Focus: Land Conservation
Activity: Remove invasive plants, plant native species, and work in loʻi at protected sites like the Waiheʻe Coastal Dunes.
How to Join: Volunteer opportunities posted on their website.
Keālia Pond National Wildlife Refuge
Focus: Wildlife Habitat Restoration
Activity: Outplant and care for native plant species and remove invasive plants to protect habitat for endangered Hawaiian water birds.
How to Join: Contact the refuge for volunteer days.
Maui Nui Seabird Recovery Project
Focus: Wildlife Preservation
Activity: Help restore nesting burrows for ʻuaʻu kani (wedge-tailed shearwaters) and assist with data collection during banding efforts.
How to Join: Contact them via their website for opportunities.
KAUAʻI
Food Security & Cultural Restoration
Malama Kauai
Focus: Food Security & Community Support
Activity: Washing eggs at a food hub, delivering produce to kūpuna (elders), and harvesting fruit for the community (gleaning).
How to Join: Contact specific program coordinators via email as listed on their website.
Malama Huleia
Focus: Cultural Site Restoration
Activity: Participate in community workdays at the ancient Alakoko (Menehune) Fishpond, removing invasive mangrove and restoring the historic site.
When: Typically the 3rd Saturday of the month.
National Tropical Botanical Garden
Focus: Botanical Conservation
Activity: Volunteer in the gardens with planting, weeding, and trimming to help preserve one of the world's most important collections of tropical plants.
How to Join: Apply via their website.
Surfrider Foundation - Kauaʻi Chapter
Focus: Marine Conservation
Activity: Join weekly beach cleanups and "Net Patrols" to remove harmful fishing nets and plastic debris from the coastlines.
How to Join: Check their social media or website for weekly locations.
HAWAIʻI ISLAND
Reforestation & Community Health
Waikōloa Dry Forest Initiative
Focus: Reforestation & Ecosystem Restoration
Activity: Help restore a rare and endangered native dry forest by building trails, clearing invasive weeds, collecting native seeds, and planting native trees like the wiliwili.
When: Volunteer days are held year-round.
Sign up on their website.
Hui Mālama Ola Nā ʻŌiwi
Focus: Community Health & Wellness
Activity: While not land-based, this is mālama kekahi i kekahi. Assist with health workshops, fitness classes, and preparing materials for community outreach.
How to Join: Contact their office to volunteer.
Kona Cloud Forest Sanctuary
Focus: Reforestation
Activity: Participate in the monthly Mālama ʻĀina Service Event, a hands-on conservation day focused on planting native species and maintaining trails in a unique cloud forest environment.
How to Join: Check their website for event dates.
🚀 Quick Start
- Time Needed: 2-4 hours
- Advance Notice: 1-2 days
- Cost: Usually free
- Rewards: Hotel discounts
- Group Size: Varies
🎒 What to Bring
- Closed-toe shoes
- Reef-safe sunscreen
- Water bottle
- Hat & sunglasses
- Reusable gloves
- Change of clothes
🛠️ Types of Work
Coral restoration, algae removal
Native planting, invasive removal
Fishpond restoration, loʻi work
Food distribution, gleaning
🔗 Related Mālama Guides
🌺 Mālama Hawaiʻi Program
Official statewide initiative connecting visitors with volunteer opportunities across all islands.
- • Hotel discounts available
- • Year-round opportunities
- • All skill levels welcome
- • Cultural education included
Island Spotlights: Stories from the ʻĀina
To truly feel the impact of these opportunities, let's look closer at a few stories from across the islands.
Mālama Oʻahu: Restoring the Bay and Feeding the Loʻi
On Oʻahu, the concept of mālama flows from the mountains to the sea. At Mālama Maunalua, the work is focused on healing a vital marine ecosystem. Their vision is clear: "A Maunalua Bay where marine life is abundant, the water is clean and clear, and people take kuleana in caring for the Bay". Volunteers get into the nearshore waters to participate in a "huki," a community pull of invasive algae that smothers native limu (seaweed) and harms the reef.
Further inland, at the iconic Kualoa Ranch, the Mālama Experience connects visitors to the very source of Hawaiian identity. Here, you can step into a loʻi and feel the cool mud between your toes as you help plant or harvest kalo. This single act connects you directly to the moʻolelo of Hāloa, reinforcing the sacred bond between the people and their food.
Mālama Maui: From the Mountains to the Sea
The Pacific Whale Foundation's Mālama Pono Program on Maui beautifully illustrates the ahupuaʻa concept in a modern context. Their volunteer opportunities span the island through a network of vital partnerships. One day, you might be mauka (in the mountains), working with Maui Cultural Lands to reforest the slopes of Honokowai Valley with native plants. Another day, you might be working in the wetlands with the Hawaiʻi Land Trust (HILT), tending to a loʻi that filters water before it reaches the ocean.
Mālama Kauaʻi: Food Security and Ancient Fishponds
On the Garden Isle, mālama often takes the form of caring for the community. Malama Kauai is a grassroots organization focused on food security and sustainability. Volunteering here is a powerful example of mālama kekahi i kekahi. You might find yourself washing and packing fresh eggs for local markets, delivering bags of fresh produce to kūpuna, or joining a "Village Harvest" to glean fruit from neighborhood trees.
Meanwhile, Malama Huleia offers a chance to step back in time. Volunteers work to restore the ancient Alakoko Fishpond, a marvel of Hawaiian aquaculture once choked by invasive mangrove trees. As you help clear the invasive species, you are not only healing an ecosystem but also uncovering a piece of history and connecting with the stories of the legendary menehune said to have built the pond in a single night.
Mālama Hawaiʻi Island: Reviving a Native Dry Forest
The Big Island offers a chance to work on the front lines of conservation at the Waikōloa Dry Forest Initiative. Hawaiian tropical dry forests are one of the most endangered ecosystems in the world, with less than 10% remaining. Here, volunteers are essential to bringing this fragile habitat back from the brink. The work is tangible and vital: building trails, clearing invasive fountain grass that fuels wildfires, and planting native trees like the magnificent wiliwili and the fragrant ʻiliahi (sandalwood). Every tree planted is a victory, a direct contribution to the survival of a precious piece of Hawaiʻi's natural heritage.
Each volunteer experience connects you to the living pulse of the islands. You become part of an ongoing story of care, stewardship, and cultural perpetuation that has sustained these lands for generations.