Conservation

The Conversation spoke with Michelle Bogardus of the Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Service, and Rachel Kingsley of the Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project and the ʻAlalā Project.

Colliers International discusses the down direction for commercial real estate; Hawaiʻi Restaurant Association shares whether "surge pricing" could work in our state; we take a closer look at the heated debate over the state budget in the wake of Maui's wildfire recovery; and a tree consultant talks about the concept of tree equity across our communities.

World Whale Day was started on Maui back in 1980 by the late Greg Kaufman of the Pacific Whale Foundation to draw attention to the magnificent creatures and the dangers they encounter. The Conversation talked with the foundation’s lead scientist, Jens Currie, as well as Ed Lyman of NOAA's Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary.

Oʻahu lawmakers want more to be done about invasive species, and they say the city needs to play a bigger role. The Honolulu City Council just approved a measure asking the city administration to do so.

A new report from the Hawaiʻi State Energy Office paints a stark picture of Hawaiʻi's progress to cut out fossil fuels. It's over 350 pages, but the key takeaway is simple: Unless the state takes aggressive action now, it will fall short of its goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2045. HPR's Savannah Harriman-Pote explains.

Local farmers and other agricultural producers can apply for reimbursement for recently bought compost. Each qualified applicant can receive up to $50,000.

Increasing drought is threatening the food supply of a well-known local resident, but some groups are taking action to fight back. HPR's Bill Dorman has more in today's Asia Minute.

An approved set of new rules will affect the catching and selling of several herbivorous reef fish species used in aquariums. Last week the state Board of Land and Natural Resources unanimously voted to accept changes that regulate the fishing of manini, kole, kala and uhu in Hawaiʻi.

The ulūlu, also known as Hawaiʻi’s millerbird, has been downgraded from critically endangered to just endangered. The increased population is the result of decades of conservation work in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Experts say hundreds of ulūlu live on Laysan Island today.

The issue underscores the need for fencing to protect ʻōhiʻa trees from further infection as researchers recently released an online map showing the hardest hit areas on Hawaiʻi Island without fences to keep out hooved animals.