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Hawaii County, HI
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Planting Resilience, One ʻOhana at a Time.
Lāʻau Love enhances community and environmental resilience through increasing equitable access to and education about native, canoe, and food plants. OSCER's plant adoption initiative makes it simple for residents to bring these plants into their homes and community spaces through free adoption events. We partner with Plant Pono certified nurseries, community groups, and nonprofits to reach communities across Hawaiʻi Island, and each plant comes with an easy-to-follow care guide to help it thrive.
In 2026, Lāʻau Love will include educational planting workshops in partnership with Big Island Invasive Species Plant Pono team and will extend the program's reach to new areas across the island.
If you're interested in collaborating on an event, please reach out to us at OSCER@hawaiicounty.gov.
Upcoming Lāʻau Love Events
Sign up to receive updates about the County of Hawai‘i's native & canoe plant adoptions, reservations, and upcoming community events.
2025 Lāʻau Love Program Highlights
In the launch of this program, we hosted 5 large-scale plant giveaways and 1 pop up giveaway across Hawaiʻi Island between September to December 2025.
In partnership with 9 local nurseries, the program distributed a total of 2,017 plants to community members. 90 different plant types were shared, with the most commonly distributed including Pōhinahina, ʻŌhiʻa, Kalo, Niu, Loulu, Alaheʻe, Māmaki, and Hala.
In addition to plant distribution, the program gathered community input through a sentiment survey exploring what sustainability means to residents. Common themes emphasized self-sufficiency, reciprocal relationships with the land, food sovereignty, the ahupuaʻa system, perpetuation, mālama, future generations, and kuleana. Together, these responses reinforce the community’s deep connection to ʻāina and the shared responsibility to care for it.