The public is invited to a meeting hosted by the U.S. Forest Service to learn about and discuss the threat strawberry guava poses to native Hawaiian forests and the proposed use of biological control, or biocontrol, to manage the species.
The public is invited to a meeting hosted by the U.S. Forest Service to learn about and discuss the threat strawberry guava poses to native Hawaiian forests and the proposed use of biological control, or biocontrol, to manage the species.
These meetings, held on all the major Hawaiian Islands, are the latest step being taken by federal and state agencies to gather citizen input for an Environmental Assessment for biocontrol of the invasive tree.
The Kaua‘i meeting is from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., today, at Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School in Puhi.
The meetings will have an open house format and will include opportunities for attendees to provide written comments. Scientists from the U.S. Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station’s Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry, the Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture, Hawai‘i Invasive Species Council and other agencies will be in attendance.
Strawberry guava is a South American tree introduced in 1825 that has degraded vast areas of native Hawaiian forest. It has the potential to take over 90 percent of the state’s remaining forest ecosystems by forming dense thickets that crowd out native species, break up natural areas, and disrupt the flow of water to streams and aquifers.
Manual and chemical control methods such as removal by bulldozer and herbicides have not been able to keep pace with its growth in Hawai‘i.
“Strawberry guava is one of the greatest threats to our dwindling native forests and the unique species that inhabit them, as well as our water resources and the traditional and contemporary uses and values these represent to the people of Hawai‘i,” said Deanna Spooner, executive director of the Hawai‘i Conservation Alliance, a partnership of state, federal and private land management agencies that voted last year to support the biocontrol plan.
To protect remaining native forests from the ongoing spread of strawberry guava, state conservationists and agencies asked IPIF scientists to investigate biocontrol as a management strategy.
This research started in 1988 and culminated last May when IPIF scientists submitted a draft EA proposing to release an insect that is a natural control agent of strawberry guava in Brazil.
The insect slows the growth of the plant while allowing it to continue to flower and fruit. It was safely tested on more than 80 native and agricultural plant species in Hawai‘i where it was found to survive only on strawberry guava.
When some citizens indicated concerns about the draft EA last May, the involved agencies decided to gather more input through county and civic meetings and additional scientific testing and review.
The revised draft EA, which takes this additional feedback into account, is expected to be completed late next month.
“Even though public meetings are not legally required as part of the EA process, we felt it was important to take time to respond to concerns, improve the document, and allow additional opportunities for comment,” said Tracy Johnson, a research entomologist with IPIF.
More information about strawberry guava and the threat it poses to native Hawaiian forests can be found at www.fs.fed.us/psw/programs/ipif/strawberryguava. The Web site also describes the biocontrol management plan and features frequently asked questions and photos.
