Friends of Hakalau Forest NWR Sets Goal of $350,000 for

2024 Endowment Campaign

With your help, the Friends of Hakalau Forest NWR’s Endowment has just passed $1.6 million, with donations received from 663 generous individuals. Mahalo nui loa! Your gift now can help us reach this year’s goal of $350,000! Our Board established the Endowment fund in 2015 with the ultimate goal of raising $3.5 million – we are almost halfway there! We can ensure that our endangered birds will have a future if we can build the resources to assist in the critical management that MUST be done to restore and maintain healthy habitat in the koa 'ōhi'a forests of Hakalau Forest.  

This year our annual campaign to raise funds for the Endowment is focused on one of the most iconic birds found at Hakalau Forest, the ʻAkiapōlāʻau. This distinctive species, endemic to the Island of Hawaiʻi, is critically endangered with an estimated remaining population of fewer than 2,000 individuals. Based on survey data from 1987 through 2019, ʻAkiapōlāʻau populations vary from year to year but are most robust at Hakalau Forest NWR. Hakalau Forest is home to an estimated 61% of all ʻAkiapōlāʻau.

@jackjeffreyphoto.com

The principal threat to all the native forest birds is the expanding presence of invasive mosquitoes which carry deadly avian diseases to which native honeycreepers have little or no defense. In tandem with avian disease is the continued loss or damage to native forest due primarily to introduced ungulates, and the spread of invasive plants.

A robust Endowment is essential to ensuring that there are no lapses in funding for needed management activities at Hakalau Forest. Reliance on uncertain Federal appropriations from year to year seriously jeopardizes the success of highly effective refuge management programs at Hakalau Forest NWR. Habitat restoration work is expensive and laborious but is imperative until threats can be permanently eliminated. The many management needs have motivated the Friends group to provide a steady stream of funding because the current funding to mitigate or eliminate threats to endangered birds and their habitat is insufficient.  

We are well on the way towards our goal! This new campaign featuring the ʻAkiapōlāʻau is aimed at pushing our fund past the $2 million mark. While ambitious, we all believe this is possible with the generous donations of our Friends’ membership and many other interested parties who see the value in building this fund. 

If you would like to donate online, please click the button below

If you wish to contribute by check, please make the check out to “Hawaii Community Foundation: Hakalau Forest Endowment” and mail to: 

Hawaii Community Foundation

827 Fort Street Mall

Honolulu, HI, 96813

Help save the ʻAkiapōlāʻau by supporting

Hakalau Forest NWR Endowment with a contribution today!

Walk for the Wild is SOLD OUT

Yes, in just 5 days FOHF has reached their maximum capacity for attendees. We’re sorry that you may have missed the opportunity to visit Hakalau Forest this year.

For those of you who have registered, we are very excited to see you on October 5th. Please note that we have a Mana/Keanakolu Road WARNING: Hurricane Hone’s recent rains have caused significant damage to the road. A 4WD with high clearance will be necessary to drive it in its present condition. The Friends will not be able to assist you if you have problems with your vehicle on Mana/Keanakolu Rd.

Please contact Patty Kupchak at kupchakk001@hawaii.rr.com with any questions.

Refuge Update

The Hakalau unit received 28 inches of rain between Aug 24-25 when hurricane Hone passed south of the island. The pest control and maintenance teams have been busy clearing fences and roadways damaged during the storm. Damage to Mana road was significant due to flooding. 

The refuge greenhouse contract was completed at the end of August. We are very pleased with the renovation and our nursery crew is adding the finishing touches including benches and hoses. This work could not have been accomplished without our GAOA maintenance member, Adam Gruis! 

We said “a hui hou” to our biologist Eldridge Naboa in early August. El accepted a promotion as the deputy manager position at the Kaua’i Refuge Complex.

Congratulations Eldridge! 

We would like to introduce Sofia Suesue, our new Pathways biologist at Hakalau. Sofia is from the island of Hawai’i and is currently enrolled in the TCBES Masters program at UH Hilo. Sofia will be working on nēnē monitoring and reproduction in partnership with PTA as well as other refuge monitoring work including forest bird surveys over the next two years. Welcome Sofia! 

Friends of Hakalau Forest NWR Receives

$10,000 Stanford PACS Award

Since 2012, Stanford PACS has partnered with The Philanthropy Lab to provide a Philanthropy for Sustainable Development course to Stanford University students of all levels of familiarity with philanthropy. The course, led in 2024 by Vera Michalchik, Director of the Effective Philanthropy Learning Initiative (EPLI), and Micah McElroy, Associate Director of Research for EPLI, teaches students how to pursue social change through philanthropy with a focus on sustainable development. The course was originally taught by Professor Bruce Sievers until Professor Patricia Bromley, PACS’ faculty co-director, reimagined a new version of the course in 2023. Professor Bromley will continue teaching the course after her return from sabbatical.

In this course, students learn about the approaches, history, and key debates in philanthropy, and apply their knowledge by collaboratively making a substantial class contribution to one or more select nonprofit organizations. This class responds to the reality confronting all philanthropists: there are many ways in which we can change the world for the better, but our money and time are finite. How can we best use our limited resources to accomplish change? And how will we know we’ve been successful? By the end of the course, students understand the fundamentals of effective philanthropy, including how to define problems, develop a theory of change, evaluate outcomes, and reduce unintended harm.

The students selected Friends of Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge to receive a $10,000 grant to purchase and deploy acoustic monitors and mosquito traps throughout the refuge.

Mahalo for your support!

Hawai'i Conservation Conference Mahalo!

Mahalo to everyone who visited our booth at the Hawai'i Conservation Conference! Especially supporters of our Friends of Hakalau Forest NWR group like Dr. J.B. Friday, our past President, pictured above!

'I'iwi's Last Stand

Marcia Stone

Volcanosnatives.com

In 1891, George Munro wrote in his journal on Kauai, “The 'i'iwi and 'apapane are so numerous that in their ceaseless activity, flying backwards and forwards their wings keep up a continual buzz…The forest would be very monotonous were it not for these beautiful birds…” So numerous? Were it so today. Even on Kaua'i, where Munro made his observation, and where so many hopes were pinned for our native birds, there has been a severe decline. From 5,400 'i’iwi in 1981 to 2,600 in 2012.

Maui, Lāna'i, Moloka'i, O'ahu. More of the same. Even long-time Volcano residents can testify from their own observations of the decline in 'i’iwi sightings. But there is one place found on our island where 'i’iwi is not only surviving, but thriving. And that place is Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge. The Hakalau Forest Unit has 33,000 acres of high elevation land. This is habitat for 29 critically endangered species, including seven birds. Currently, Hakalau Forest is the only place in Hawaii where native forest bird populations are stable or increasing. In the case of 'i’iwi: 21,000 in 1999 and 18,000 in 2012. This is considered a stable population trend, given uncertainty surrounding annual estimates and year-to-year variation.

'Ōhi'a on a rock with lichen and moss

There are many reasons for the plummeting numbers of 'i’iwi. There is habitat loss. There are rats and cats. But above all these, there is avian malaria which kills 90% of 'i’iwi with one bite of a mosquito. New mosquito control techniques are around the corner and will hopefully be in time to save the 'i’iwi and the other native honeycreepers from extinction. But will they be able to hold out? You and I can help. The Friends of Hakalau Forest NWR created the Refuge Management Endowment in 2015 in conjunction with the Hawai'i Community Foundation, and we invite you to join our efforts.

The Hawai'i Community Foundation is a tax exempt public charity under section 501(c)3 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. All funds to the Refuge Endowment support ecological projects at Hakalau Forest. Please see the information at the beginning of this newsletter for more details.

We need to support and encourage those places that are doing the right things for our native species. And Hakalau Forest is one of those places. 

SIDEBAR: ‘Alalā’s Last Stand

Did you know that Hakalau Forest NWR has a Kona unit? It consists of 15,000 acres of dry forest land on the slopes of Mauna Loa. As recently as 2002, the last wild pair of Hawaiian crows, or ‘alalā, were found in the Kona unit. None have been seen since. The ‘alalā took their last stand there, but if current breeding and training efforts are successful, they may one day return to their former home.

Amazon Wish List

The new Refuge Nursery Lead at Hakalau Forest NWR, Eric-Preston Hamren has big plans for the two newly renovated NWR greenhouses and we need your help to support their efforts!

Check out the Friends’ Amazon Wish List and see how you can support restoration efforts at Hakalau Forest NWR. Every item on the Wish List helps the Refuge grow native plants that will be used for restoration activities to protect the precious endangered species, including the ʻAkiapōlāu and ʻAlawī.

Click below to donate the various items that the Refuge needs (and mahalo to those of you who have already donated)

Please use the Refuge address in the "Shipping" section of the "Checkout" process - that way, your donation will be delivered directly to the FWS office in Hilo and can be put to use immediately.

Hawai'i Island Festival of Birds

October 26, 2024 9am-5:30pm

Grand Naniloa Hotel, Hilo

Friends of Hakalau Forest NWR is a proud sponsor of the Hawai'i Island Festival of Birds, so be sure to visit our booth if you are in attendance!

Friends of Hakalau Forest NWR T-Shirts

Back by popular demand! The Friends of Hakalau Forest NWR T-Shirts are now available using the link below. We have men's, women's, and children's sizes in long and short-sleeved styles.