Conservancy to manage forest
Advertiser Staff
LIHU'E, Kaua'i—The Nature Conservancy of Hawai'i will manage about 1,500 acres of native forest at the mauka end of Lumaha'i Valley on Kaua'i's north shore, under an agreement signed with landowner Kamehameha Schools.
The wet lowland native forest is dominated by 'ohi'a trees with an understory of native shrubs and ferns. But it also is under threat by alien species such as the Australian tree fern, clidemia, strawberry guava, and by goats and pigs that are moving mauka from the lower valley.
"The back portion of Lumaha'i is as close to pristine as any lowland forest and stream system can get in the Hawaiian Islands. There are very few places remaining where you can stand at low elevation in a river valley bottom and see native forest running from river edge to ridge top," said Sam Gon, director of science for the conservancy.
Kamehameha Schools signed the agreement to have the conservancy manage the land, in part because it sees the native environment as a key to preserving and teaching Hawaiian culture, said Neil Hannahs, director of the Kamehameha Schools land assets division.
"Preservation of Hawai'i's native environment is critical to the understanding and perpetuation of Hawaiian culture. At Lumaha'i, we have a chance to demonstrate how conservation and culture overlap," he said.
Experience elsewhere has shown that once alien species get a foothold, they can be difficult to control, said Trae Menard, natural resource manager for the conservancy on Kaua'i.
"The current scope and severity of damage from pigs and goats is fairly limited," Menard said.
The program expects to control major weeds, use community volunteer hunters to control animals, and to fence the most remote and undisturbed portions of the valley.
