The state has beefed up its funding for the Hawaiʻi Invasive Species Council, meaning more resources for projects across the islands.
HISC, one of the state’s leading agencies in pest management, uses a portion of the money it receives to fund pest-related government projects.
This year HISC received its most funding from the state Legislature since its creation in 2003 — about $8.6 million between its base state funding and Act 236, a biosecurity measure passed this year.
The council received 54 funding requests for various pest-related projects, beating the 19 received last year. The nearly $5.7 million HISC has available to distribute is also the most it's had in at least the last decade.
The funding was still less than half of what was requested, indicating that more support is needed for biosecurity efforts.
But the state’s support for biosecurity efforts has become increasingly important over the last few years, which some believe will continue.
“I think that trend will continue overall, like with requests coming in through the state Legislature — there's just an ongoing need for it. We’re not even close to having the amount of money we need overall to get a handle on some of these established pests and making sure our borders are able to prevent new pest incursions,” said Chelsea Arnott, HISC’s program manager.
State lawmakers and the public have prioritized biosecurity recently as major pest species like coconut rhinoceros beetles, little fire ants and coqui frogs spread to new locations.
Increased funding has also gone to the invasive species committees on Oʻahu, Big Island, Kauaʻi, Maui and Molokaʻi. The committees have to apply for their funding every year, and a significant chunk of that comes from HISC.
The council allocates around $3 million total for the committees yearly, and this year provided nearly $3.4 million. But Act 236 provided an extra $1.7 million for the committees this year.
