Hawaiʻi is home to some of the most unique and diverse ecosystems on the planet. They are also among the most threatened anywhere, with hundreds of native plant species in danger of extinction. The Strategy is how the network answers that — five objectives and twenty metric-based targets, held in common.
The Hawaiʻi Strategy for Plant Conservation, completed in 2014, reflects decades of informal collaboration and years of intentional planning among plant conservation stakeholders in Hawaiʻi. It is aligned with the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation, with a framework of five objectives and twenty metric-based targets to conserve the plants identified as Species of Conservation Importance.
The Strategy called for the establishment of the Laukahi Network itself — to formalize coordination and measure collective progress against those targets. Laukahi, “single leaf” in Hawaiian, unites this work to perpetuate native plants and island ecosystems. The urgency has never been greater in the face of climate change and threats to native habitat, and working together advances plant conservation faster than individual efforts alone.
Meet the network →Targets marked GSPC map onto the corresponding target in the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation, so progress in Hawaiʻi is measurable against the global framework.
The Smithsonianʻs Flora of the Hawaiian Islands website and the Bishop Museumʻs Native Plant Checklist are excellent resources for the latest taxonomic and geographical information. Other information can be found at the University of Hawaiʻi Botany Departmentʻs website for Native Plant Genera.
In 2012, the status of over 700 native plant species of conservation importance was reported in Laukahiʻs assessment of how well the remaining wild populations were represented in collections at botanical gardens, seed banks and other specialized facilities statewide. Laukahi repeats the assessment to determine what progress has been made towards HSPC goals and to inform priorities for the following four years.
A primary goal for Laukahi is to develop and host an information management system that enables efficient sharing of biological data. When structured correctly, the latest observations from the field can be combined with updated inventories of seed banks and gardens to show progress in meeting goals measured on national and global scales. Progress reports derived from data uploaded by Laukahi partners are accessible in real time, but masked to protect sensitive information about fragile natural areas.
Laukahi aims to increase coordination between conservation practitioners and researchers by building a Research Network for Hawaiian Plants. Next steps include posting research topics identified and prioritized by conservation groups on the species they manage, building a hui of scientists interested in the topics needed to guide conservation practice, developing a phenology database, compiling records on restoration outplanting techniques, and supporting increased molecular research.
The World Wildlife Fund has identified five ecoregions in Hawaiʻi: Tropical Moist Forests, Tropical Dry Forests, Tropical Low Shrublands, Tropical High Shrublands, and Northwestern Hawaiʻi Scrub. The Nature Conservancy of Hawaiʻi has identified ten ecological systems sharing similar biogeoclimatic conditions: Alpine, Subalpine, Montane Dry, Montane Mesic, Montane Wet, Wet Cliff, Lowland Wet, Lowland Mesic, Lowland Dry and Dry Cliff. Laukahi is working with partners to identify how much of each of these regions is secured through effective management.
Important areas within each ecological region must be protected with management that controls threats to Hawaiian plants. Laukahi is working with partners to identify the threats that should be controlled for each region (ungulates, rodents, weeds, arthropods and others) and the footprint of management for each threat.
The primary intention of plant conservation projects in Hawaiʻi is to restore thriving populations within protected habitat so they can resume their roles in native ecosystems. The recovery of native plant species and habitats is the ultimate goal. Laukahi is working with partners to identify where Species of Conservation Importance are being conserved in situ and where more management is needed to secure habitat for restoration of viable populations.
In 2012, an assessment identified 724 Species of Conservation Importance in Hawaiʻi and found that collections of 528 (73%) were being held or grown in at least one of the twenty ex situ facilities interviewed. These results highlight the efforts of many dedicated field botanists and botanical garden and seed bank staff over recent decades. However, as wild populations continue to decline, it becomes increasingly important to secure collections large enough to have high conservation value. The 2012 assessment found that only 189 plants met this goal, while collections of 389 plants were made from 10% or less of the remaining plants.
Collections should be large enough to allow their use in restoration and recovery programs. Laukahi is working to identify species where collections can be used for propagating plants for outplanting projects, and is developing a comprehensive list of species being outplanted for restoration of wild populations in order to measure progress.
The Hawaiʻi Seed Bank Partnership is working to exchange collections between facilities to provide additional security against stochastic events, with storage on Kauaʻi, Oʻahu and Hawaiʻi Island. Partnerships with the USDA National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation and Kew Gardenʻs Millennium Seed Bank provide further opportunities to secure collections outside Hawaiʻi, adding protection from hurricanes and other catastrophes.
The Hawaiʻi Strategy for Plant Conservation includes a template for a Species Conservation Plan, set out below. For plants listed as Threatened or Endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service before 2010, Recovery Plans can be found at ECOS.FWS.GOV. Species Conservation Plans for plants managed by the Oʻahu Army Natural Resources Program are at OANRPlants.
In Hawaiʻi, biosecurity topics relating to natural resource management are addressed by the Coordinating Group on Alien Pest Species (CGAPS), the Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture (HDOA), and the Hawaiʻi Invasive Species Council (HISC).
Members, partners and field crews of HISC, CGAPS, the National Parks, the State of Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources, the Hawaiʻi Association of Watershed Partnerships and many others are actively engaged in controlling invasive species across the state.
Conserving native plant diversity requires a variety of ex situ spaces and methods to grow ferns, shrubs and trees adapted to specific climates and ecosystems. Each island needs access to seed banks, nurseries, botanical gardens, and highly specialized cryopreservation and micropropagation facilities. Laukahi aims to expand and improve existing seed banking facilities through the Hawaiʻi Seed Bank Partnership, which collaborates on grant applications to upgrade equipment, increase germplasm storage capacity and enhance research capability. Nursery facilities exist on most islands, but gaps remain on Molokaʻi and Hawaiʻi Island. Local botanical gardens, many of them members of the Center for Plant Conservation, can build living collections to better support in situ work.
The strategy documents, the current action plan, and the parts of this site that report against them.
Laukahi has a growing number of partners who implement the Strategy — supporting initiatives, conducting field work to protect native habitat, propagating and securing propagules in ex situ facilities, and carrying out the research that informs it all.