The University of Hawaiʻi at 惭ā苍辞补’s will be leading efforts to expand capacity for collection and banking of ʻō丑颈ʻ补 seeds across all islands in response to the (ROD) crisis. With funding from the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority (HTA), Lyon Arboretum is spearheading the , a new project that builds on the momentum of #OhiaLove.
- Related 东精影业 News stories: , February 7, 2016
, April 27, 2016
The ROD Seed Banking Initiative has two parts:
Community involvement in ʻō丑颈ʻ补 seed conservation
In 2016, the Hawaiʻi Seed Bank Partnership developed seed collection protocols and a statewide collection strategy for ʻō丑颈ʻ补. With this structure in place, the partnership can expand its efforts and scale up seed collection—with the public’s help.
The arboretum will be offering on each island, free of charge and open to the local community. The worshops provide training on how to properly collect, handle and process ʻō丑颈ʻ补 seeds, without doing harm to trees or forests, using methods that protect seed viability and ensure conservation value for future restoration.
HTA funding also supports emergency seed banking of these ʻō丑颈ʻ补 seeds at facilities on multiple islands.
Rare plant conservation on Hawaiʻi Island
The core partner of Lyon’s Hawaiian Rare Plant Program is the (PEPP), which works with the rarest of the rare: species with less than 50 individual plants remaining in the wild. There are 40 PEPP species on Hawaiʻi Island, where severe habitat alteration by ROD could have devastating effects on rare plant populations.
It is important for PEPP to rapidly collect seeds from as many remaining rare plants as possible and secure them at Lyon’s Seed Conservation Lab. Funds are supporting increased PEPP collections on Hawaiʻi Island and storage of those seeds at Lyon Arboretum.
