Posted on: Friday, September 3, 2004
Preserve expanded in Kona
By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Science Writer
The U.S. Forest Service's Forest Legacy program has paid The Nature Conservancy of Hawai'i $950,000 for a permanent conservation easement on 2,240 acres at Papa in South Kona to ensure the land remains undeveloped and in conservation use.
The property is the northernmost of three contiguous parcels that make up the conservancy's Kona Hema Preserve, an 8,061-acre swath of koa and 'ohi'a forest that is habitat to the endangered Hawaiian hawk and bat, the 'io and 'ope'ape'a, and to four native forest birds, the 'i'iwi, 'apapane, 'elepaio and 'amakihi.
The Papa forested area covered by the agreement runs from 3,200 to 5,600 feet in elevation on the southwest slope of Mauna Loa. The conservancy paid businessman Kent Untermann $1.7 million for the Papa land in November 2003.
The Forest Service and the Conservancy earlier last year made a similar Forest Legacy arrangement for the protection of the 1,800-acre Kapu'a forest. The conservancy uses the cash from the easements to help pay its cost of acquisition of the forest land.
Kapu'a and Papa are separated by 4,021 acres at Honomalino, which the conservancy acquired in 1999.
"Forest Legacy has enabled us to double the size of our Kona Hema Preserve and do twice as much protection here in South Kona," said conservancy executive director Suzanne Case. She said the state's congressional delegation was crucial in getting the money.
The conservancy is working with the Forest Service on planning for the preserve, but it remains in Nature Conservancy ownership, and the organization will pay for the management of the lands.
"The projects here in South Kona are our first in the Islands. Hawaii's native forests are unique in all the world, but they are also highly endangered. Forest Legacy allows us to work with private landowners and the state to ensure the long-term protection of these valuable forests," said John Henshaw, program manager for the Forest Service's Pacific Rim Forest Legacy Program.
Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808)245-3074.
