MANA — The flock of six nene, or Hawaiian geese, coupled with three young gallinule swimming at the Kawaiaele bird sanctuary was encouraging. “This is the most nene we’ve see yet,” said Jason Vercelli, a biologist for the state Department
MANA — The flock of six nene, or Hawaiian geese, coupled with three young gallinule swimming at the Kawaiaele bird sanctuary was encouraging.
“This is the most nene we’ve see yet,” said Jason Vercelli, a biologist for the state Department of Land and Natural Resources. “And those gallinule are young ones. That’s an encouraging sign. There’re also Hawaiian stilt and plovers.”
Vercelli and Thomas Ka‘iakapu, Kaua‘i Wildlife Manager for the DLNR, were discussing their observations at the Kawaiaele bird sanctuary Wednesday in Mana.
“This is about 36 acres of a habitat that was started by Tom Telfer back in 1993,” Ka‘iakapu said. “He retired in 2003, and this is part of what he started with sand mining back then.”
Telfer envisioned the area being returned to its original wetlands environment and the DLNR is working toward realizing that through its Mana Plains Wetland Reserve.
Ka‘iakapu said the department is now working on hydrological testing of the brackish water that forms a major portion of the 36-acre bird sanctuary. That is part of the Environmental Assessment that the DLNR is currently drafting and will be available later this year, Ka‘iakapu said.
Recently, the DLNR acquired an additional 110 acres of land that will bring the Mana Plains Wetland Reserve up to 145 total acres.
Under the projected plans, Ka‘iakapu noted that the reserve will feature a series of islets floating among the body of water that will serve as habitat for wetland and marsh birds. An information center will greet visitors at the main gate with room for parking.
From there, visitors will be guided through the wetlands habitat through a series of paths, boardwalks and even land bridges between islets.
“It will take community outreach to reach its final stage,” Ka‘iakapu said. “We will be needing volunteer groups to come out and help with the various projects involved with the eventual Mana Plains Wetland Reserve.”
Those projects involve working with DLNR personnel in the areas of invasive species removal, predator control, planting native plants, observation and data recording and conducting bird census.
The reserve will have an educational component to it, and working with the Department of Education, there are activities that can be tied in with school curriculum similar to the Wailua Reservoir restoration project that is linked to Kapa‘a High School, Ka‘iakapu said.
Once the EA is complete, the public will have an opportunity to comment on the project, Ka‘iakapu said.
“We are currently in the planning phase,” Ka‘iakapu said, noting that the work done by Telfer has provided an idea of what can be accomplished in the area.
The additional lands acquired by the DLNR for the project are located across an access road to a pump maintained and operated by the U.S. Navy through the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Mana.
Because of that separation, Ka‘iakapu said that area will also be a wetland environment, but there will be more control of the water in the individual reservoirs.
The land involved has not seen sugar cane grown on it since 1995-1996, and the decision to stop growing cane had a lot to do with the flooding in the area, Ka‘iakapu said.
“This area was shown as one of the largest wetlands in the state on some of the older maps,” Ka‘iakapu said. “During the konas, the plantation would lose entire crops to flooding, and overall, cane coming out of this area had low yields based on tonnage per acre leading to the discontinuation in this area.”
But vestiges of cane cultivation abound as pieces of black irrigation piping stick up from the barren red dirt overgrown in places by grasses and koa.
Vercelli said when Telfer started work on the habitat, there were lots of birds showing up within the first two years.
But the tilapia got into the water and started eating up some of the invertebrates and vegetation the birds feed on. That led to a decline in the number of birds frequenting the area.
Ka‘iakapu said there are now two types of tilapia that inhabit the water along with two, or three types of medaka, or mosquito fish.
But the native plants are thriving, including the ‘ohia, an endangered Hawaiian plant, that DLNR crews planted along the banks of the water body.
“Eventually, the berms will be cut down so people can get closer to the water,” Ka‘iakapu said. “But for now, the ‘ohia seems to be doing well even with the koa threatening to overgrow it.”
In addition to the ‘ohia, the native ilima, used for lei, as well as the makaloa, a native Hawaiian sedge, have all established a foothold in the Kawaiaele bird sanctuary.
Vercelli, in addition to making observations and collecting data on bird and wildlife in the area, has also been collecting seeds from the re-established plants in anticipation of developing the Mana Plains Wetland Reserve.
“This is going to be a wonderful place when it’s done,” Ka‘iakapu said.
He likened it to looking at a piece of rock that has a portion polished and ground to show the beauty of the gemstone beneath its gnarly exterior.
