Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 7, Number 3, 1 Malaki 1990 — Malama Hawaiian plants [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Malama Hawaiian plants

By Clarence F. T. Ching Trustee, O'ahu

When 50 people are arrested at Wao Kele on Hawai'i island protesting threatened destruction of a Hawaiian rainforest, the action makes headlines and provides footage for television news. lt also helps raise our eollee-

tive consciousness about the eeonomie and anticultural forces at work around us. It doesn't matter that the same demonstrators were protesting the alleged desecration of Pele's domain by those attempting to convert the area's geothermal resources into usable energy. The state's interest is to develop a "renewable" energy alternative to decrease its dependence on foreign oil. Some Hawaiians elaim that geothermal development may also result in the partial loss of our right of access to gather raw materials for medicine, building materials, food and other things, and the right of a segment of our community to practice its religious beliefs. The resultant publicity has helped to refocus the attention of U.S. environmentalists from the rainforests of Brazil back to the native forests in their own backyard. Whether they are wet or dry, highiand or lowland. Hawaii's native forests need attention and protection. On O'ahu, because of the widespread clearing of land by the plantations and by developers for residential and commercial uses. the island's lowland plants and trees have been severely affected. Many plant species have become extinct and, except for a few remote places, shoreline plants are almost non-existent. The federal government promulgated the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to protectcertain endangered species of aquatic life, wildlife and plants.

In 1975 Hawai'i followed suit with its own endangered species law because, of all 50 states, Hawai'i has the highest rate of extinction of indigenous plants and animals. Despite the protections envisioned by the Endangered Species Act, the most recent attack on one of 0'ahu's endangered plants eame with recent developments on the 'Ewa plain in and around Barber's Point and the deep draft harbor. A major population of the endangered Euphorbia skottsbergii uar. kalealoana or 'Ewa Plains 'akoko (also koko, ekoko and kokomalei) until recently grew near an ammunihon storage area at Barber's Point Naval Air Station. A smaller remnant plant community grew on an altered eeosystem at the deep draft harbor site. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service waived the Endangered Species Act and allowed the destruction of the habitat on whieh the smaller community grew so the harbor could be built. Hoping to continue the survival of individual plants in the smaller community, between 1977 and 1980 over 1,200 'akoko were transplanted to other sites on the 'Ewa plain. By 1981, only two of the transplants were still alive. It is doubtful whether any of these transplants continues to survive. The result is the loss of an entire community of endangered plants to build one deep draft harbor. A federal court recently refused to require an environmental impact statement for the clearing of 150 acres of native dryland forest for the eonstruction of a new 1,200 acre firing range at the Army's Pohakuloa Training Area on Hawai'i island. This is extremely shocking.

The judge found that the delay to conduct the EIS would cost the government $6,000 per day and could result in termination of the contract for eonstruction of the range. The termination would have cost about $3.7 million and would have had "a substantial impact on the readiness posture of the military in the Pacific," according to a Dec. 12, 1989, article in The Honolulu Advertiser. Without seeing the data on whieh the Army based its decision that construction and use of the new range would result in no significant environmental impact, the public has no idea how many rare and endangered plants and trees will be maimed or destroyed. No one ean guess how many mamane trees, whose seeds are the necessary food of the endangered palila bird, will feed the bulldozers or be blasted into wood chips. Last vear OHA and the Honolulu City Council joined forces to coax the Army into moving their Makua Valley, O'ahu shelling targets. This now limits the fires caused by incendiary shells that were destroying native trees upon whieh endanqered native tree snails Achatinella were barely surviving.

Of what use are the protections ot the Endangered Species Act if government and their agencies are the first to violate them? On the other hand, human activities to propagate these endangered plants and trees are prohibited except by permit. The seeds of many endanqered plants are either eaten by rats and miee, before they ean sprout, or by deer and goats after they do. Many seeds get lost in the thick grass surrounding the parent trees and never get close enough to the ground to take root. There are only 19 Hawaiian plants and trees on the federal endangered list. Probably more than 500 rare native plants should be on the list. Many plant lovers shun the addition of their favorite rare plants and trees to the list because of the Act's restriction against picking them. What ean we do as individuals? Many of our rare and endangered plants will not survive without human intervention and recreated ecosystems because their natural habitats continue to be decimated by development. We must raise our collective consciousness to higher levels and, individually, take an active role

in fostering the lives of our rare plants. In addition to the activities of such institutions as the Nahonal Tropical Botanical Garden, Waimea (Fails) Arboretum and Botanical Garden, Lyon Arboretum, Honolulu Botan;c Gardens (Foster Ho'omaluhia, Koko Crater) and more, there are areas where plantings by non-profes-sionals are doing well. Ron Fenstermacher at the University of Hawai'i, Kanewai lo'i reports that their collection of kalo (includirig kai, moi, piko, lehua, eleele, uahi a Pele, elepaio and others) is doing well. The native mai'a (bananas) includes iho-lena, maoli and popo'ulu. Other native plants and trees (including loulu, ma'o or cotton, ma'o-hao-hele the yellow hibiscus whieh is the state flower, koai'a, lonomea, naio or false sandalwood, hao, uhi or yam and others) have been planted throughout the garden and are there to be enjoyed, observed and studied. At Pahua Heiau in Hawai'i Kai, a few native species, including hala, ma'o, ma'o-hau-hele, milo, wiliwili and koai'a have been planted. There is an uhiuhi and a kauila tree, whose parents continue their dance of many decades on Hawai'i island. (I wrote about them in my December 1987 eolumn.) There in Hawai'i Kai they live. We hope they live to give our children of the next century the opportunity to enjoy them. Pahua is a lovely spot to sit and meditate at the end of a hectic day. Discussions to form a native plant society on O'ahu have begun. There have even been suggestions to eall it Uluhaimalama Nursery 'Elua after the garden of Queen Lili'uokalani at Pauoa. (I wrote about Uluhaimalama from April to June 1988.) These are such exciting times. A list of potential members is being accumulated and all interested participants are weleome. To add your name to the list, either send me a postcard at the OHA office, 1600 Kapiolani Blvd., Suite 1500, Honolulu, Hawai'i, 96814, or eall the office at 946-2642. An organizational meeting will probably take plaee this summer. For the sake of our plants and trees, let me hear from you. Note: The 'akoko data is from an unpublished report by Ellshoff, Gabriele and Kamehiro: Endangered Plant Status Report: Chamaesyce skottsbergii var. skottsbergii (1989).

A major population of the endangered 'akoko onee grew on the 'Ewa plains. They were moved for construction of the deep draft

harbor. It is doubtful whether any have survived transplant.

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