Expanding the capacity for the preservation and restoration of native forest habitats on the Island of Hawaiʻi

Abstract

As the native forests of Hawaiʻi Island continue to face new threats in the form of invasive species, destructive pathogens such as Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death (ROD), and stochastic events, the need for island-wide native forest rehabilitation continues to intensify. To address these ecologic and anthropogenic issues, the County of Hawaiʻi Real Property Tax Division has expanded its Native Forest Dedication Program to provide private landowners with reduced property tax rates for dedicating their land to native forest, functional forest, or successional forest land-use designations. With Native Forest Bill 178 being recently signed into law, ordinance number 20-60 establishes a dedication process for forest preservation and restoration for private property owners who have a minimum of 2.75 acres of contiguous native forest habitat. To support this new legislation, through the work of my professional internship, new resources were created to maximize enrollment rates and the success of the individuals who are participating in this community-based native forest restoration program. Examples of the new resources created specifically for this new legislation include a native, non-native/non-invasive plant species list and an accompanying plant nursery list, a management plan template that allows landowners to develop management plans without the help of a certified natural resource management professional, and an evaluation checklist that the county will use to evaluate management plans. This new legislation, which is the first of its kind in the State of Hawaiʻi, facilitates community-based native forest restoration projects by increasing multi-stakeholder participation in the active care and management of native forest habitats throughout the County of Hawaiʻi.