Division of Forestry and Wildlife

Our Natural Area Reserves include some of the most spectacular and unique ecosystems in Hawaiʻi, from tropical reefs to coastal dunes, and tropical forests to fresh lava flows, and snowy mountains. Use our online donation tool to make a donation to support conservation work related to these reserves.

If you’re making a donation as a gift, download one of our four digital gift cards to print and give to your loved one. Gift cards feature lehua mamo, the spectacular mountains of the West Maui NAR, ʻiʻiwi, and the native tree snail Partulina mighelsiana. Donate online now and get your digital gift card here.

Why buy a holiday wreath imported from the mainland when you can create your own using species found here in Hawaiʻi? To make it easier to collect foliage, fruits, and other items from Forest Reserves, we’ve created a new, map-based application for forest collection permits. Click on the reserve you want to visit, select from a list of available species to collect, and choose an amount you want to collect. The system will auto-generate a permit (there may be a fee for collecting larger amounts of material).

Check out the video below, which shows how to get a collection permit and how to make your own wreath using ti and other local plants.

Whether you’re decorating a tree or just want to make your house more festive, native bird ornaments help bring our mauka friends into your home. Our Activities page has printable PDFs for you to create paper ornaments featuring ʻiwiʻi, ʻakepa, ʻakiapōlāʻau, and ʻelepaio. 

We made a short video showing the process for creating some of these ornaments, which can optionally be made as individual birds or glued together to make a three-bird ornament combing multiple species.

You probably aren’t decorating an actual ʻōhiʻa tree for the holidays, but you can add beautiful lehua blossoms by creating your own ornament. Our Activities page has a printable PDF with instructions for creating your lehua blossom.

It has an optional insert declaring your ʻŌhiʻa Love, which reminds us to cherish ʻōhiʻa in the face of the invasive fungal pathogens that cause Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death.

Make an ornament that lives beyond the holiday season. You can create ornaments from recycled, pulped paper that incorporate native seeds. Give them as a gift or hang them on your own tree, and then after the holidays, you can plant them in the ground to help spread native species.

Watch our instructional video, which not only guides you through the crafting process, but outlines important information about which species may be good to use, and the need for permits when collecting from state lands.

Show your love for nature and your holiday spirit by downloading our festive forest species wallpaper for your phone. Tap to save the image to your phone and then set it as your wallpaper.

When the holidays are over, check out our Native Species Wallpaper page bring your favorite native plant and animal species into your daily digital life. We have wallpapers formatted for phone wallpapers, desktop/tablet wallpapers, and backgrounds for virtual meetings.