(Līhuʻe) – It was last seen on Hawai‘i Island five years ago and thought possibly to be extinct. A rare, critically endangered fern that grows on ʻōhiʻa and on a few other native tree was recently discovered by a team from the Hawai‘i Plant Extinction Prevention Program (PEPP).
(HONOLULU) – Imagine your job is hanging 300 feet on a thin rope, on nearly vertical cliffs, in Waimea Canyon on Kaua‘i. This is precisely what Adam Williams, a botanist with the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW), and Scott Heintzman with the state’s Plant Extinction Prevention Program (PEPP) do on a regular basis.
(HONOLULU) – Researchers know that endangered Hawaiian monk seals range broadly across the Hawaiian archipelago. Data shows that 10-14% of adult monk seals move from their birth island to other islands. They’re impressed that a six-year-old female seal, designated as KG54, swam 1,300 miles from Kure Atoll, the northernmost island in the chain, in Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, to O‘ahu, arriving here on a north shore beach last Wednesday (Sept. 22, 2021).
(HONOLULU) – 100,000,000 is a hard number to wrap your head around. One trillion is even tougher and that’s the number of trees a new challenge hopes to plant, conserve, or restore this decade worldwide. https://www.1t.org/ 1t.org is part of the World Economic Forum’s efforts to accelerate nature-based solutions and was set up to support the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030.
(KAHULUI) – The rusting fence around the Kanahā Pond Wildlife Sanctuary on Maui is closer to being replaced with a predator-proof fence, with Governor Ige’s Wednesday release of initial funding for the project. The bird sanctuary, surrounded by urban and industrial development, has also been a focus of this week’s mass clean-up of trash, vehicles, and camps from adjacent Amala Place.
(Honolulu) – An unprecedented number of Hawaiian monk seal deaths on the island of Moloka‘i, this year, has law enforcement officers from the NOAA Office of Law Enforcement (OLE) and the DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE) investigating.
(Kailua, Oahu) – While prepping to board a nearby amphibious vehicle, Hawai’i State Senators Chris Lee and Jarrett Keohokalole are briefed by DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) Administrator David Smith and staff on the ecological significance of the Kawainui Marsh State Wildlife Sanctuary. Last month, the two senators embarked on a tour of the restoration efforts in the historic wetlands.
(Kahului, Maui) – As Maui County crews and contractors continued cleaning up trash, personal belongings, and abandoned vehicles from a ¾ mile stretch of Amala Place, staff from three DLNR divisions (Land, Forestry & Wildlife, Conservation and Resources Enforcement) began removing illegal camps from adjoining State lands.
Numerous presentations and leaders from around the world at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Marseille emphasize the close connection between climate change mitigation and adaptation and biodiversity conservation.
(HILO) – The Mana Road fire that burned along Old Saddle Road on the slopes of Mauna Kea on Hawai‘i Island was one of the largest wildland fires in recorded Hawai‘i history. In late July and early August, it scorched more than 42,000 acres of mostly grassland above Waimea and largely on the Parker Ranch.