Councilwoman Maile David, who represents the Kaʻū distruct, chairs the Council Finance Committee.

(BIVN) -The Hawaii County Council Finance Committee gave the initial O.K. to grant money to help mālama Kāwā.

The Hawaii Wildlife Fund applied for the funding, which will allow the non-profit to continue its restoration work on the county-acquired land. They will receive $13,200 from the Public Access, Open Space, and Natural Resource Preservation Fund.

According to Resoultion 192-17, Hawaii Wildlife Fund will work to “restore the estuary and fishpond located at the southern end of Kāwā, remove harmful invasive species from various bodies of water located on the property, in collaboration with Kuleana `ohana and community groups from the Kaʻū and Puna districts to achieve these goals, which enhances and solidifies the community component of this project.”

The Hawaii Wildlife Fund already organizes cleanup and restoration work up-and-down the Kaʻū coast.

“This is a huge piece of property,” Kona councilman Dru Kanuha noted, adding that $13,200 is “not a lot of money at all to help out with Kāwā.”

Finance Chair and Kaʻū representative Maile David said the Hawaii Wildlife Fund has matching funds to leverage the grant, and said the door is open for other groups to participate in the care of Kāwā.

David said the Hawaii Wildlife Fund is “not the only ones that are applying for grants for Kāwā” and said she believes there are other interested organizations. “I think that’s the intention; is that we have different organizations that provide different services or different maintenance aspects of it. I think if everybody collaborates we can we can get a lot done,” David said.