About Volunteer Kauai

"Travel Authentically. Discover More!"

Volunteer Kauai is the island of Kauai's first major voluntourism project, begun by local nonprofit Malama Kauai, whose mission is to advocate, educate, and drive action towards a sustainable Kauai. We educate and engage our visitors in sustainable tourism and volunteering.

In alignment with internationally recognized Sustainable Development Goals (SDSs), Volunteer Kauai envisions an engaged and involved visitor industry. One that ensures the protection of ecosystems, creates sustainable green jobs, promotes local culture and products, and emphasizes the conservation and sustainable use of our natural resources. We believe that visitor arrivals and spending can give back to our island rather than take from it. We've set out on a mission to educate and engage visitors to do just that.

 

Sustainable Tourism is Our Mission.

Volunteer Kauai supports the Hawaii Ecotourism Association’s principles of sustainable tourism. This can be defined as, "Tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities."

Essentially, that is the name of our game. Sustainability defines our operating principles in the following content areas:

  • Environmental Management - The service projects we facilitate engage with nature and culture in a responsible way. All projects and listings contribute to conservation and community outcomes for Kauai.
  • Staff Management - Program facilitators are trained to provide participants with authentic volunteer experiences amongst Hawaiian nature and culture.
  • Interpretation Management - We provide accurate and citable information to participants.
  • Consumer Evaluation Management - We conduct formal and informal evaluations to seek and respond to participant feedback. This allows us to keep improving upon our mission!
  • Marketing Management - Our marketing materials provide accurate and responsible information about our services.
 
Mahalo nui to our Founding Sponsors:

 

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