The state has launched a biosecurity website to update the public on efforts to manage some of Hawaiʻi’s most threatening invasive species.
The website features interactive dashboards that provide information on pests like the coconut rhinoceros beetle, little fire ant, and coqui frog.
Data include the number of individuals in each species found in different ZIP codes, details about past treatments, and how to identify and report pests.
Maps on the dashboard display pest detections in specific areas, allowing members of the public to check how much of a problem a pest species is in their ZIP code.
Craig Clouet, a program manager for the state Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity, demonstrated how the website can be used this week in a meeting with state lawmakers. He clicked through the coqui frog dashboard.
“Most people I know using maps, the first thing they want to do is zoom to their house … So we want to make sure that's available to people. If you have to live in the ZIP code, you can click on it, find out the number of responders, how many frogs have been captured, see it on the map, and see what kind of survey or treatment (was done),” Clouet said.
The dashboard for LFA, for example, indicates that there have been 911 positive samples of the ant on Oʻahu for the current fiscal year so far, and all of them have been found in two areas — Waimānalo and Kāneʻohe.
The dashboard currently focuses on Oʻahu, but officials say the plan is to expand coverage as it continues to work on the website.
The effort would help promote citizen science as well.
“People can actually bring home samples from schools and things like that and test their neighborhood, test their school areas. So, it's a fun one for kids,” Clouet said.
DAB was required to make a pest dashboard under Act 236, a law signed this year that also put $26 million in state funds toward biosecurity efforts.
Lawmakers said it will also help make DAB’s invasive species management efforts more transparent.
The website will be updated quarterly.
