Plant a Legacy Tree

with the Eco Rotary

Modern Wahine Hawaii visits Gunstock Ranch and speaks with Rotary District Governor Naomi Masuno and Pili Valderrama, President of the Eco Rotary Club of Kaka‘ako.

Building a forest from the grounD up.

Deforestation has increased more rapidly over the last 60 years than ever before in human history. This unsustainable loss of biomass is worsening the effects of our changing climate and must be reversed in order to keep our natural systems in balance. We, as well as future generations, depend on the living ecology that each tree provides.

Get involved, Support through service

What is the value of a single tree?

Planting six Legacy trees per month is enough to offset the CO2 emissions that one person produces annually.
Two Legacy Trees can supply enough oxygen annually to support a family of four.
Trees are an investment:
Sequester carbon from the atmosphere to slow the impacts of climate change.
Create energy savings for residents through climate cooling.
Provide integral wildlife habitat (animals, birds, insects, plants, and genes) essential for biodiversity.
Tree leaves transpire, giving us water vapor and rain; Tree roots filter and recharge our aquifers.
Even the simple sight of a tree can have a calming effect on the human body.
Forests are the guardians of our environment; they filter, store, and digest pollutants to help protect our resources.

Get involved and take action.

Plant Your Tree Today!

Give the gift of a living legacy by sponsoring an endemic Legacy Tree to be planted in the Legacy Hardwood Forest at Gunstock Ranch. Your funds will help us collect seeds by hand, raise your seedling in our nurseries, plant your tree to create a forest, fence out pests, and clear invasive species.

You will receive a beautiful personalized certificate and the RFID tracking number and GPS location so you can track your tree. Included in your sponsorship is a $30 donation to Eco Rotary Club of Kaka'ako to support future environmental initiatives like this one.

King Koa — $90.00

Planted on Hawaii Island

King Koa (Acacia koa) is a native Hawaiian tree of exceptional beauty. It has been all but eliminated from the lower elevations on all of the Hawaiian Islands. Koa is so variable in its appearance as to defy classification. It can be everything from red to brown to golden and even ivory. The grain can be straight, but the most valuable of koa exhibits a curly figure that creates the illusion that you are looking right through the surface. It finishes with a rich luster and depth that has made it a treasured resource for Hawaiian heirloom furniture. The Hawaiian Islands were once blanketed in koa forests with the largest trees being sought out for dugout canoes. The wood was so prized that it was used for virtually everything in contact with the Ali'i (Hawaiian royalty). The trees reach heights of 100 feet and diameters of 4 feet.

Monarch Milo — $90.00

Planted on Oahu

Milo is a beautiful and spiritually important tree used in and around temples throughout Polynesia. It continually produces showy bright yellow flowers with maroon centers. These blooms start out yellow in the morning then turn to a dark orange later in the day. The beautiful wood was prized by Hawaiians to make bowls, calabashes, carvings and musical instruments. Even the Waikīkī home of King Kamehameha I was known for being surrounded by Milo trees. It was revered in the Hawaiian community, considered a sacred tree and its use was once forbidden to commoners.

Lei Kou — $90.00

Planted on Oahu

A treasured tree in Hawaii, Kou is now categorized as indigenous to the Hawaiian Islands. Groves of kou were once planted near sacred places; today, very few kou trees remain. Known for its cream-and-caramel-toned wood that swirls and pools, kou is both beautiful and useful when used for creating bowls and calabashes. Kou leaves provided dye for kapa cloth and fishing lines. The orange trumpet-shaped flowers were highly prized by young girls and lei-makers to create a favorite traditional lei. In the Hawaii of yesterday, parents would plant kou when children were born. Plant a Lei Kou Legacy Tree and leave “Your Lei” for future generations.