I grew up on a farm Upcountry, where my parents had a nursery and landscaping business, so plants and gardens have always been a focal point in my life. My father would plant shower trees whenever he could on a landscaping job, saying they reminded him of my mother. When I see the Shower Trees blooming at the Kapalua Ridge Villas, one of the job sites he worked on decades ago, I smile whenever they are in bloom.
My grandmother lived just off Front Street at the Puamana end. When I was a teenager, my father moved back to Lāhainā, and from that time on, I spent all of my summers in Lāhainā. I remember the smell of the air, the way it would change slightly as the months got warmer, filled with the fragrance of blooming plumeria and the mangoes that fell into the yards all over town.
After the fire and the shock of seeing the devastating loss in Lāhainā, I realized how different it is without its trees. Before August 8, 2023, Lāhainā was a canopy town. Mango trees leaned over back fences, ulu, plumeria, ti, puʻu kalaunu, and banana grew in yards around town, giving the air a sweet, heady scent. In town, the Banyan Tree was a steady presence for over a century and a half — its branches shading nearly an entire block on Front Street.
When the wildfires swept through, they didn't just take homes. They took the shade, the fruit trees, the lei-making plants, and the everyday flowers and foliage that made Lāhainā feel like Lāhainā.
That loss is where our Live Aloha, Give Aloha spotlight begins — with the community-based nonprofit working to bring back the greenery, trees, and flowers to Lāhainā
What Is Treecovery?
Treecovery working at the Banyan Tree in Lāhainā
Treecovery Hawaiʻi (Treecovery Inc.) is a Maui-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in the aftermath of the fires by Duane Sparkman, an arborist and the chief engineer at Royal Lahaina Resort, alongside co-founder Matthew Murasko. Their mission is direct: grow and distribute trees, free of charge, to the residents and businesses of Lāhainā and Kula who lost theirs, and rebuild the canopy across Maui Nui for generations to come.
Sparkman put it simply in an interview with Maui Nō Ka ʻOi Magazine: “We're a group of healers. As we restore the ʻāina, it restores us.”
From a Single Branch to a Growing Network
In the days after the fires, Sparkman and Murasko went straight to the banyan tree. Working quickly, they air-layered branches from the damaged tree to preserve its genetics, then delivered those cuttings to resorts across Maui that are now stewards of these plants.
That instinct — save it, propagate it, share it — became the model for everything Treecovery does now. The organization has built a network of “grow hubs” across the island: resort courtyards at Marriott's Maui Ocean Club, Andaz Maui, and Fairmont Kea Lani, a site at Kahului Airport, and private properties throughout West Maui and Upcountry, including an acclimation site on a farm that has held as many as 1,600 potted trees at once. Residents and public sites simply reach out, and Treecovery matches available trees to the request and delivers them once they're ready to plant.
If you're a Lāhainā or Kula resident who lost trees in the fires, you can request free trees and plants directly through Treecovery's online request form — it's the most direct way to bring the canopy back to your own yard.
The Work Happening Right Now
The scale of what was lost is significant: an estimated 21,000 trees burned within Lāhainā's 300-acre burn zone. Treecovery has thousands of replacement trees potted and growing, with a palette that includes banyan, mango, citrus, banana, and papaya alongside native Hawaiian species like loulu palms, wiliwili, and breadfruit — plants chosen not just for shade, but for food, lei-making, and habitat.
That native focus led to one of the organization's most meaningful projects yet: planting native loulu palms, grown from seed originally collected on Molokaʻi, at Lāhainā Harbor. It's a small but pointed example of Treecovery's broader vision, which reaches beyond fire recovery altogether — restoring trees in Lāhainā and Kula now, then building a Central Maui food forest and tree donation farm, with a long-term goal of supporting canopy restoration across Maui Nui, including Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, and Kahoʻolawe.
As Treecovery co-founder Matthew Murasko has described it, the work is ultimately about “planting trees for the keiki on Maui who haven't yet been born.”
Treecovery Hawaiʻi plants and tends trees to restore Mauiʻs ecosystems. Photograph by Selket Kaufman, courtesy of Maui Magazine
Art From the Ashes: Shop the Artisan Collection
Treecovery's recovery work extends into the studio as well as the nursery. Through a partnership with two veteran Maui artists, salvaged wood touched by the fires is being given a second life as fine art and handcrafted instruments, with proceeds supporting the broader mission.
Sculptor Dale Zarrella has been creating since 1973, with work held in private collections and the Vatican museum. For Treecovery, he channels salvaged material into an exclusive collection titled Rising from the Ashes — Spirit of Aloha. Instrument maker Steve Grimes has handcrafted instruments since 1972 for musicians including Jake Shimabukuro, Willie Nelson, Pat Simmons, and Steve Miller, and now brings that same craftsmanship to one-of-a-kind pieces made from Lāhainā's salvaged wood.
Every purchase supports Treecovery directly, and half of the purchase price is eligible for a tax deduction — a meaningful way to bring home a piece of Lāhainā's recovery.
Shop The Artisan Collection: Steve Grimes
Shop Dale Zarrella's Collection: Rising from the Ashes - Spirits of Aloha
Ways to Give Back: Volunteer & Donate
LIVE ALOHA: VOLUNTEER
Community members are welcome to get involved at grow hub planting days and cultural tree-planting events hosted with community and resort partners throughout the year. To ask about upcoming volunteer opportunities near you, reach out through Treecovery's contact page and the team will point you to the next event.
GIVE ALOHA: DONATE & SHOP
Every tree Treecovery grows and delivers is free to the residents who receive it, which means the organization runs entirely on donations, grants, and community support. A gift of any size helps fund seedlings, staff, and the grow hub network that makes free tree distribution possible — and every donation is tax-deductible.
You can also give back while you shop: Treecovery's online store offers branded hats and shirts, with proceeds going directly toward growing and distributing more trees across Lāhainā and Kula.
Donate to Treecovery | Shop Treecovery
Treecovery Inc. (dba Treecovery Hawaiʻi) is a Maui-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit approved by the IRS, EIN# 93-4500472.
Photos courtesy of Selket Kaufman for Maui Magazine and Treecovery.
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