KEALAKEKUA — A group intent on reopening the Amy B.H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden will meet in Captain Cook on Saturday to hash out ways of putting the site into the hands of a nonprofit organization.
KEALAKEKUA — A group intent on reopening the Amy B.H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden will meet in Captain Cook on Saturday to hash out ways of putting the site into the hands of a nonprofit organization.
Friends of Amy Greenwell Garden will discuss incorporating as a 501(c)3 organization to act as stewards of the 15-acre collection of Hawaiian plants — some of them rare and endangered.
“The garden is a gem that has been giving to the community and to academia for years,” said Chantal Chung, the meeting’s facilitator. “We’re in the process right now of figuring out what we can do. Then we’ll move to what we should do.”
Other topics will cover outreach to organizations with the necessary resources and an interest in taking ownership of the garden and finding lawyers to deal with land issues. Fundraising for short- and long-term maintenance and operations and possible purchase will also be on the table, along with publicity efforts and the formation of a volunteer work crew for upkeep of the garden.
Residents are rallying to save the garden after the Bishop Museum announced in January that the site will be put up for sale along with Waipio Valley land for a total of around 500 acres valued at $10 million.
“We’ve had over 60 people express interest, and I’m sure many more would like to be involved,” said Noa Lincoln, who is spearheading the effort. “We would love to put a broader call out for more people to be involved as well.”
“This meeting will be a working meeting about how we envision the future of the garden, in both idealistic and real terms,” Lincoln said. “It will be an important meeting to lay the foundation of a future organization to continue culture, education, and ethnobotany at the gardens.”
The museum shuttered the Captain Cook garden to focus resources on the Kapalama campus on Oahu. The garden closed last weekend.
The meeting, to include a potluck lunch, will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the garden.
“It’s so very important to have access for the community, a place to learn about our natural systems and about agriculture,” Chung said. “It’s important for people to be able to get hands-on experience in the field.”