Hemp & the Maui Hemp Institute; Environmental Report Card; Reality Check: Lanai Covid Cluster; Manu Minute
Hemp & the Maui Hemp Institute
Our economic crisis has spurred lots of emphasis on diversifying our economy and looking to boost local agriculture. Hemp is a crop that has long had a cheering section but the regulation has been an uphill battle for farmers. We talked to Steve Rose of the Maui Hemp Institute about how farmers will now have to apply for permits with the USDA.
Environmental Report Card
Throughout this week we are looking into a recent report card on our environment.
“He Lono Moku” means island update. The Hawaii Environmental Funders Group funded the report. and this is the 3rd review to date. (Click here to read the report.) Covid 19 has certainly made us rethink our paradigm. It’s been a tough year, but this crisis has certainly made us grateful for what we do have. Our weather for one. Climate change is still in play, but this year we have been blessed with milder weather patterns then we have had in recent years. No massive coral bleaching, just some paling. NOAA scientist Jeff Polivina’s backyard is the windward side of Oahu. We start there.
Reality Check: Lanai Covid Cluster
Honolulu Civil Beat’s Reality Check today looks at the cluster of positive COVID-19 cases on the island of Lanai. Reporter Brytany Lyte joins us with more on the story.
Manu Minute
Today we are launching a new feature on The Conversation. It’s called the Manu Minute. Manu means “bird” and the short segments will feature Hawaii’s endangered birds. It’s thanks toPatrick Hart, a professor in the Biology Department at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. Take a listen to our first feature about the I`iwi, a rather showy and social creature.
Hart also runs the Listening Observatory for Hawaiian Ecosystems. The lab uses bioacoustics to study the social behavior of Hawaii’s birds and map their populations in native forests. He will be bringing us our Manu Minute. He recalled how his passion for Hawaiian birds first began.