The Friends of Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge has set a goal of $300,000 for its 2023 fall endowment campaign.
Located on high on the windward slopes of Maunakea, the Hakalau Forest unit consists of 32,830 acres of some of the finest remaining stands of native montane rain forest in Hawaii. It is the habitat for 29 critically endangered species including seven birds, one insect, one mammal and 20 plants found nowhere else in the world.
A robust endowment is essential to ensuring that there are no lapses in funding for needed management activities on the refuge. Reliance on uncertain federal appropriations from year to year would jeopardize refuge management programs.
Habitat restoration work is expensive and laborious but must be continued until threats can be permanently eliminated. The many management needs, often occurring when least expected, have motivated the Friends of Hakalau Forest group to provide a steady stream of funding to be able to be effectively responsive.
“We can ensure that our endangered birds, including the ‘akiaola‘au, ‘alawi and ‘akepa, have a future if we can build the resources to assist in the critical management that must be done to restore and maintain healthy habitat in the forests of Hakalau,” said J.B. Friday, a forester on the faculty of the University of Hawaii and president of the Friends of Hakalau group.
“Although our long-term goal for the endowment is $3.5 million, we have to date raised over $1 million in the first few years of the endowment’s existence,” he said. “This year’s campaign goal of $300,000 has the potential to bring the endowment to over $1.3 million. While ambitious, we all believe this is possible with the generous donations of our Friends’ membership and many other interested parties who see the value in building this fund and saving endangered birds.”
The Hakalau refuge was established in 1985 to conserve endangered plants and animals and the native ecosystems of which they are a part.
Although the refuge is located high on the slopes of Maunakea, recent climate change models predict its endangered birds will soon face the same threats of avian disease that have impacted these species at lower elevations on Hawaii Island, and particularly on other islands including Kauai and Maui. The need for funding has never been more urgent.
Those who would like to donate can visit www.hawaiicommunityfoundation.org/hakalau-forest-refuge-management-endowment-fund.
Checks can be made out to “Hawaii Community Foundation: Hakalau Forest Endowment” and mailed to Hawaii Community Foundation, 827 Fort Street Mall, Honolulu, HI, 96813.