For all my consternation on where to take this blog into the future, what doesn’t change is the restoration work itself. While I am pondering the social media landscape, native plants are trying their darndest to survive.

Case in point above, this mamaki (Pipturus albidus) opportunistically germinated and started growing on an old rag on one of our water catchments. The current zeitgeist is that native hawaiian plants are very sensitive with specific requirements, yet here is a plant making the most of a surprising opportunity.

In some ways the reforestation work I do is kind of like a herder: The plants are doing all the hard work, I’m just doing what I can to shepherd them along and give them every advantage I can. The fact that they are the ones doing the heavy lifting means we see compounding interest. These small victories add up. I’m sure I’ll post a picture of this tiny mamaki that started it’s life on a rag 5 years from now, marveling at its size.