"We are pleased to be working with Moanalua Gardens to help educate students and communities about environmental issues that affect our lives," said Kathleen Johnson, public affairs division director of the EPA's Pacific Southwest region.

"Each of us plays a role in protecting the environment to ensure that future generations inherit a cleaner world," she said.

The project will cover native and invasive species with eight lesson plans and resource materials, tailored to Hawai'i's special environmental issues. The lessons will help students understand responsible stewardship and motivate them to become effective future workers, problem solvers, and community leaders and participants.

The project will offer 160 teachers from the state Department of Education in 50 schools a state-of-the-art native and invasive species curriculum and updated resource materials to use for the benefit of 5,000 students in grades one through seven. Students in Hawai'i's public and private schools will learn the importance of respecting, caring for, and maintaining the islands' complex, diverse and unique ecosystems.

The project is funded by the EPA's Environmental Education grant program and is part of an overall $94,000 grant the EPA awarded in the Pacific Southwest region covering Hawai'i, California, Arizona, Nevada and the Islands of Guam, American Samoa and Northern Marianas.