Media Briefing Held on The Nature Conservancy's Forest Recovery Project
HONOLULU, HAWAI‘I — August 31, 2007 — The Nature Conservancy of Hawai‘i will brief the media on the status of its Forest Recovery Project (see Feb 07 press release) that is designed to help protect Hawaii’s native forests and watersheds from the growing threat of destructive, non-native ungulates (hoofed animals) such as pigs, goats, deer and cattle.
The pilot project includes working with a New Zealand-based animal management company – Prohunt – that specializes in strategic hunting and animal monitoring techniques for conservation. If successful, this project will enable The Nature Conservancy to build capacity among our staff, partners, and local hunters, to improve our efforts to save what’s left of Hawaii’s native plants and animals from extinction.
On Friday, Director Suzanne Case and Sam ‘Ohukani‛ōhi‘a Gon will provide an update on the pilot project, describe the community outreach done to date, and show how this work benefits all of Hawai‘i. They will also address concerns raised by a small group of hunters from Moloka‘i who plan to protest the project this Saturday at the Hawai‘i Historic Arms Association gun show.
Despite much effort and progress, Hawaii’s irreplaceable and unique environment is in crisis. Our remaining intact native forests are being eaten away by invasive weeds and the widespread, destructive behavior of foreign, non-native animals. These losses put Hawaii’s watersheds at risk and add to the ongoing degradation of our oceans and reefs.
The Nature Conservancy’s Forest Recovery Project is part of its ongoing efforts to preserve Hawaii’s best remaining native forests and reefs. A primary project area is Moloka‘i, due to the critical and urgent need to protect the island’s watershed, which is rapidly losing ground to introduced non-native pigs and goats. Moloka‘i has lost nearly 90% of its native forest, and its reef - the longest fringing reef in the U.S. - is being smothered by sedimentation from the eroding landscape. A similarly dire situation is repeated throughout the Hawaiian Islands.
Hawai‘i is the “extinction capital of the world,” having already lost half our native forests and half our native birds. Protecting our irreplaceable native forests is critical to preserve fresh water resources, ocean reefs, as well as native Hawaiian cultural practices, both today and for future generations.
The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.
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