GOALS AND OBJECTIVES.

Prevent Miconia plants from becoming established in new areas and to slow their spread where they exist now.

Eradicate all flowering or near flowering trees in the Kona infestations (Honalo and Honaunau) by 6/30/99 and define population boundaries.

 The results of hiring a full time crew for West Hawaii were positive.  Allowing the team to focus on fewer sites showed that a thorough and complete effort can be accomplished.  All mature and near mature trees were destroyed, and seed production has stopped.  The site boundaries were defined by combining data from ground and air surveys using global positioning satellite (GPS) receivers and a global information systems (GIS) database.

Search potential areas and locate/validate plants reported by outside sources.  Eradicate outlying and remote populations.

 Eradication work continued at 42 sites across East Hawaii.  There are no mature or near mature trees at Laupahoehoe or Akaka Falls.  Near mature trees exist at Ninole and Hakalau on steep slopes.  A plant reported far north at Kukuihaele was never found, and determined a falsely identified plant.  Surveying for seedlings should continue along all edges to prevent seedings from maturing into new remote infestations.  Of primary concern are all sites within a kilometer of undeveloped forest lands.

Destroy mature plants in core populations to reduce the rate of spread.

 Mature trees at core populations (or sites) received treatment, especially along roadsides and some gullies. Destruction of mature trees occurred at Onomea, Papaikou, Honolii, Panaewa, Ainaloa, and Leilani Estates.  Volunteers from the Hawaii Economic Development Board, Puna Outdoor Circle, Leilani Estates Community Association, and Upward Bound did most of the work at these sites.  DLNR forestry crews assisted the Miconia field team at Honolii. Ainaloa was managed by the field team.

Re-visit treated areas to monitor and eradicate newly established seedlings.

 Field teams are too small in East Hawaii to completely and effectively remove all trees at all sites and maintain all prior work every year.  More crews are needed at this time to stop all seed production at all sites as soon as they are found.  Revisiting sites occurs as time permits, to monitor the size and densities of plants and to make sure the site is scheduled for work before plants mature.  More efforts towards community adoption programs and volunteer events would reduce the pressure on work at site cores, and will free up field teams to continue surveying for seedlings in remote areas.

Cooperate and facilitate biological control efforts.

 The fungus has survived and is steadily infecting trees at the application sites.  Operation Miconia has asked Hawaii Dept. of Agriculture to apply the fungus at all suitable sites on Hawaii as soon as possible.
 

visit Hawaiian Ecosystems At Risk > HTTP://WWW.HEAR.ORG < for more information on invasive species

Operation Miconia mahalo to Sig Zane of Hilo for creating the Miconia Logo

Big Island Invasive Species Committee/Operation Miconia 16 East Lanikaula Street  -  Hilo, Hawaii  -  96720 Ph:  (808) 961-3299 - Hotline & Voice Mail Alt. Ph:  (808) 974-4140 - Office & Hawaii Dept. of Agriculture Reception Desk FAX:  (808) 974-4148

biisc@aloha.net

miconia@aloha.net