HONOLULU – As the culmination of a month-long series of public webinars and volunteer events designed to raise awareness about the impacts of invasive species in Hawaii, Gov. Josh Green signed the official proclamation declaring May “Hawaii Invasive Species Awareness Month (HISAM)” on Wednesday.
In celebration of HISAM, Green and the Hawaii Invasive Species Council (HISC) honored community members and local businesses helping to fight invasive species.
“The essence of our shared kuleana is to safeguard Hawaii from the devastating impacts of invasive species. They compromise our forests, reefs, native plants and wildlife, agriculture and even our health and water. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the problem of invasive species,” said DLNR Chair Dawn Chang, who also co-chairs the interagency HISC. “But this month, HISAM, is about hope and the people and organizations who rise to meet these challenges with passion, commitment and aloha.”
The 2025 awards recognize an MVP who has made substantial contributions to this work on Kauai, Oahu, Maui Nui and Hawaii Island, as well as winners in the statewide categories Business Leader, Community Hero and Greatest Hit. The 2025 awardees include:
• Business Leader: Aloha Termite and Pest Control for its leadership in combating the little fire ant and how the private sector can play a critical role in invasive species management.
• Community Hero: Haleakala Ranch for protecting rangelands and native ecosystems from invasive species while producing local food and stewarding large open spaces on Maui.
• Greatest Hit: Trenton Yasu for his rapid and professional response to a 643pest.org report involving freshwater eels, a restricted aquatic species.
• Hawaii Island MVP: Kiane Prietto for her outstanding dedication to invasive species education and community outreach.
• Maui Nui MVP: Mike Opgenorth for his leadership in conservation, outreach and invasive species response in East Maui.
• Oahu MVP: Thomas Griego for being a proactive community member, by leading outreach and access coordination for little fire ants in Lanikai, which helped crews overcome major obstacles and continue control efforts.
• Kauai MVP: Work It Out Kauai (Jenny and Jasmine Kaohelaulii) for their creative and sustained commitment to invasive species outreach through fashion, media and community engagement.
This year’s HISAM theme, “What’s at Risk: from Mauka to Makai,” featured a series of live educational webinars from local invasive species experts, recordings of which are now available on the HISC website. Webinar topics this year included creating new habitat for critically endangered bird species, controlling coqui frogs on Maui and community engagement in invasive species management.
You can continue to help prevent and manage invasive species by reporting pests to 643-PEST or 643pest.org.
