Nahele Dry Forest Symposium on Big Island
The dry forests of Hawai‘i are fragile habitats that are home to many of the rarest plants in the world. In North Kona, now only remnant patches of the habitat remain, reminding us of a fabulously diverse community of plants and animals that once dominated the landscape of West Hawai‘i.
The Nahele Dry Forest Symposium on February 23, 2007 , brings together researchers and conservationists to share their ideas on how to keep dry forest habitats healthy and how to restore them where possible. The primary audience for the symposium is conservation professionals, but there will many presentations and discussions of interest to the general public as well.
Dr. David Burney of the National Tropical Botanical Garden , will share a vision of the dry forests in the time before humans arrived on these islands. Researchers from the U.S. Forest Service and USGS Biological Resources Division will present reports on their latest research, and a panel of conservationists, government agency representatives, and horticulturists will discuss what is involved in doing dry forest restoration. There will be presentations that look beyond the plants to other life forms that make up a healthy dry forest ecosystem. In addition, there will be a panel of cultural experts discussing the place of dry forests in the traditional life of West Hawai ‘i.
The symposium will be held Friday, February 23, from 9 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. at the Outrigger Keauhou Beach Hotel. From 4:30 to 5 p.m. , the general public is invited to a slide show and question and answer session hosted by Yvonne Yarber-Carter of Ka ‘Ahahui o ka N ā helehele. For registration and information, call The Kohala Center at (808) 887-6411 or go to www.kohalacenter.org. Registration for the conference is $20, which includes lunch.
The symposium is a project of Ka ‘Ahahui o ka N ā helehele, a non-profit dedicated to dry fores t conservation. Partners in sponsoring this conference are Bishop Museum’s Amy B.H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden, Hawai‘i Forest Industries Association, National Tropical Botanical Garden, The Kohala Center, the US Forest Service, and the Outrigger Keauhou Beach Hotel. The symposium also coincides with the Amy Greenwell Garden ’s 3 rd annual Grow Hawaiian Festival.
The 3 rd Annual Grow Hawaiian Festival will be held at Amy Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden in Captain Cook, Hawai‘i Island , on Saturday, February 24, 2007 , from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Admission is FREE!
Weavers, dancers, kapa makers, and other practitioners of traditional Hawaiian culture meet with biologists, conservationists, and horticulturists to explore their common passion for the native and Polynesian introduced plants of Hawai‘i. Festival-goers have a unique opportunity to meet and talk with many of the foremost practitioners of Hawaiian arts like lei maker Marie MacDonald or kapa maker Kapua Van Dorpe as well as leading scientists like botanist Clyde Imada or entomologist David Preston.
The festival includes cultural demonstrators, ask-the-expert booths, and displays by schools, parks, and conservation organizations. There will be a continuing program of speakers and panels on the main stage throughout the day, activity areas for young and old, and plate lunches by Super-J’s.
For more information about the Amy Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden in Captain Cook, HI, call (808) 323-3318; or email agg@bishopmuseum.org; or visit www.bishopmuseum.org.
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