Since this year has been declared the year of our community forests, HPR has been highlighting programs that help engage people across the state.
This week on The Conversation we have been showcasing the National Tropical Botanical Garden. It just marked a milestone in its history — celebrating 60 years of work. It covers gardens on Kauaʻi, Maui, and in Florida.
Former President and CEO Chipper Wichman has worked with the NTBG for 50 of its 60 years. He is hailing the vision of its founders and the many hands that work to conserve native species.
"I'm just in awe of our founders, who starting in the 1950s conceived of creating a national institution headquartered in Hawaiʻi that was funded entirely with philanthropy. I mean it's such an audacious vision and dream, but they were so smart in not wanting to be subject to the political winds that blow either in our state capital or in our international capital in Washington," he said.
"It was a long haul, but the fact that we are entirely privately funded gives us a lot more sovereignty and stability in the work that we do — which is so critical, not only for Hawaiʻi but for the world."
Wichman shared that when he started at the garden, there were only about 10 of them working. They had one garden — compared to the five they have now.
"We have five different gardens, and each one is absolutely remarkable. So in addition to the two gardens in the Lāwaʻi Valley, Limahuli Garden and Preserve on the North Shore just before Hāʻena State Park is absolutely one of the most spectacular gardens you'll see anywhere in the world," he said.

"I'm so impressed with the vision of our early founders and supporters who adopted breadfruit as the symbol of our organization in 1972 and that was long before anybody realized the potential of breadfruit to feed the world or to create food sovereignty for Hawaiʻi," he told HPR.
Wichman added that the NTBG has over 150 different kinds of breadfruit in its collection from various places in the Pacific.
"It's a remarkable resource, and the fact that we have that genetic repository here in the Hawaiian Islands means that we have access to various kinds of breadfruit that can be grown under different soil conditions, different environmental conditions, wet, dry, salty, you name it," he said.
Breadfruit agroforestry can last a lifetime or more, he said.
"A breadfruit agroforest is basically a food forest. It's like a natural Walmart," Wichman said. "There are breadfruit agroforests that have been in constant use for over 1,000 years in Micronesia. It's just remarkable to see the potential this plant has for Hawaiʻi."
Wichman said that the NTBG is the best-kept secret. Many people didn't know it existed. However, he said the organization now hosts approximately between 70,000 to 80,000 people at their gardens.
"Over the last 10 years, we've really tried to get more people into our garden to really appreciate not only the beauty of them, but the importance of the work that we're doing," he said. "We're just so thrilled to be able to share what we do with the broader public."
This segment aired on The Conversation on Jan. 15, 2025. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.