Cover of Last Stand report © TNC

Last Stand:  The Vanishing Hawaiian Forest, released in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of Hawaii’s forest reserve system, makes the case for renewing the public-private commitment to forest and watershed protection that sparked the creation of the forest reserve system a century ago.  

The 2003 report was produced by the Nature Conservancy in cooperation with the State Department of Land and Natural Resources, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Mālama Hawai`i. 

Citing how the long-term survival of Hawaii's native forests is at a critical historical juncture, the report stresses how a new era of public-private cooperation and investment is urgently needed to secure our future water supply and ensure the long-term survival of our native forests.

A century ago, such cooperation established the first forest reserves in the state. During the early decades of the 20th century, public and private interests waged a massive campaign of fence building and feral animal removal that saved the Islands' remaining native forests. They also instituted fire-control and large-scale tree-planting programs and eventually placed more than 1.2 millions acres within the new forest reserve system. The effort replenished the Islands' water supply and fueled the era of plantation agriculture in Hawai`i.

Over the years, however, public investment in watershed protection dropped precipitously, and today, our watersheds are degrading and our native forests slowly disappearing. Already, more than half of the islands' native cover has been lost. While the historical impacts from agriculture, grazing, logging and development are responsible for much of this loss, the greater threat to the Hawaiian forest today is the destruction wrought by invasive weeds such as miconia and wild pigs and other feral animals.

Hawaii's state-owned forest reserve system is the 11th largest in the country, yet we rank 48th in the nation for state spending on fisheries and wildlife. The report's key recommendations are for lawmakers to provide dedicated funding for enhanced alien species prevention and for the recent statewide movement toward watershed partnerships – voluntary alliances of public and private landowners working together to protect large areas of forested watersheds for water recharge and conservation values.

Click here to download Last Stand:  The Vanishing Hawaiian Forest booklet!

(24 pages, 4.3 MB)

Explore the Conservancy's Forested Watershed program