HEAR species information index

• HEAR funding has ceased as of 31 December 2012. The only parts of the HEAR website that are currently being maintained are the Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk project (PIER) and the Conservation Jobs listings. The HEAR-maintained e-mail discussion lists are still available, but maintenance will be extremely limited. All HEAR support is currently being done by volunteers.
• The HEAR website is scheduled to remain available online indefinitely (due to the gracious support of PCSU), and was moved to a more stable server situation in early 2013.
• HEAR-maintained internet mailing lists will continue to be available for the indefinite future, but user issues/requests (including moderation/new subscriber approval [for those lists needing it]) will likely take longer to be handled between now and mid-January (as all support is on being handled by volunteers).
• Starr images will remain available on a new site (starrenvironmental.com). (Other HEAR imagery will continue to be available at its current location [hear.smugmug.com])
• Job listings will probably continue to be available (thanks to the volunteer efforts of former HEAR employee Patty Nakao (but they may not be updated as frequently).
• The HEAR Announcements page will likely be discontinued almost immediately.
• Additions and updates to HEAR species information pages will be discontinued (although the existing pages will remain available).
• The Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER) subsite (www.hear.org/pier) will continue to be maintained (as always, thanks to the heroic volunteer efforts of Jim Space). It is planned that future updates will be uploaded to the HEAR website by a volunteer (already in place).

Because of a lack of funds, HEAR (www.hear.org) may close as soon as December 15, although there may be enough funds to extend it until February 15. This will mean several things. The web site will be placed on a new server although it is not clear who will pay for the server or for transitioning the site. HEAR data will not be updated. The Pacific Ecosystems at Risk (PIER) site will also become frozen, as will numerous books, reports and papers. As software evolves we will likely lose the ability to access the data. The various list servers will need new owners, otherwise moderated lists will cease to function altogether, while other lists will not be able to add or delete members. The Starr photo collection will remain accessible, but only through a third party site that will charge for access.

I should point out that we have already lost the original home of the Pacific Basin Information Node (PBIN) website, although it has found temporary refuge. Together with HEAR, this site represents the corporate memory both here in Hawaii and across the Pacific of efforts to sustain our natural ecosystems and agriculture against problems caused by species alien to the islands. HEAR also serves as the glue that holds the community together, providing information and facilitating communication. I just hope hindsight is kind to this decision.