Kailua Beach dune restoration progresses with community planting effort

By Nathan Serota
June 1, 2025
City News, DPR News

344 ‘aki‘aki, ‘ākulikuli, pōhinahina, nanea plants installed with volunteer assistance

Volunteers install 344 native plants as part of the Kailua Beach Dune Restoration on May 31, 2025

Dozens of volunteers and community members joined the collaborative effort to preserve a popular stretch of Kailua Beach Park, by placing 344 native plantings along the restored beach on the final day of May 2025.

Spanning a stretch of shoreline between the canoe hale parking lot and Lifeguard Tower 8B, volunteers and a variety of government staff installed ‘aki‘aki, ‘ākulikuli, pōhinahina, and nanea plants with the goal of keeping the wind-swept sand in place. The plants will be bolstered by temporary irrigation, along with signage and post & rope fencing to help protect the vegetation from foot traffic.

This planting effort represents the latest action taken to support the natural revitalization of the park and mitigate beach erosion through dune restoration. The initiative began in November 2024 with the removal of invasive Ironwood trees. A more comprehensive beach revitalization followed, from January through February 2025, when Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation staff reinforced the shoreline’s dune with sand pushing, removal of derelict infrastructure, and installation of sand-retaining fencing.

Group shot of approximately 35 volunteers and government staff following planting of native ground cover as part of the Kailua Beach Dune Restoration on May 31, 2025

These actions accompanied several community stakeholder meetings, where updates and input from a variety of residents, community groups, and volunteers were fielded. Mahalo to those participants and yesterday’s volunteers for their amazing support! They join a team of staff from a consortium of government agencies including: the City and County of Honolulu’s Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR), State of Hawai‘i’s Department of Land and Natural Resources Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands (OCCL), Hawai‘i Sea Grant, and the Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency.

These initial efforts represent the first phases of a longer-term Kailua Beach Park dune restoration effort, staggered to minimize the impact on beachgoers. Future plantings, Ironwood removals, sand management, and collaborative work is being planned. Stay tuned for additional planting events and community volunteer opportunities as subsequent phases get underway.

This project advances action 5.4 of the City’s climate adaptation strategy, Climate Ready Oʻahu: Collaborate with the community to restore beach and dune systems in City beach parks. Elements of this dune restoration effort are also outlined in the 2022 Hawai‘i Dune Restoration Manual, with the particular case study for Kailua Beach Park commenced at the request of DPR. While this stretch of shoreline and the greater Kailua Beach dune system are considered stable, consistent erosion has narrowed the beach over the past few decades with observable changes over the past five years.

If you need an auxiliary aid/service, other accommodations due to a disability, or an interpreter for a language other than English in reference to this announcement, please contact the Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation at 808-768-3003 on weekdays from 7:45 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. or email parks@honolulu.gov at least three business days before the scheduled event. Without sufficient advanced notice, it may not be possible to fulfill requests.