What is Bio-Control?

Ua lohe mua ʻoe no ke KĀOHI MEAOLA?  Ma ka lā 25 o Kepakemapa, no ka Hawaiʻi Conservation Alliance a me ka ʻOihana Mahi ʻAi o ka Mokuʻāina, hōʻikeʻike akula ʻo Darcy Oishi no ia kumuhana ʻo ke kāohi meaola no ka hoʻonaʻauao ʻana aku i ke kaiaulu.

Ma Hawaiʻi nei, kākaʻikahi nā manaʻo maikaʻi no ke kāohi meaola ma muli o nā hemahema ma kona mōʻaukala.  Kupu mai nō paha nā nīnau, he aha lā ia mea he kāohi meaola a he aha ke kaʻina hana kūmau no ke kāohi meaola ʻana?

Wahi a Darcy Oishi no ka ʻOihana Mahi ʻAi o ka Mokuʻāina, “Ke lohe ʻia ʻo “kāohi meaola” he aha ka manaʻo mua o ka poʻe?  Manakuke!  ʻAʻole pololei kēia, ua lawe ʻia mai ka manakuke i Hawaiʻi nei e ka ʻAhahui Kanu Kō o Hilo i ka makahiki 1884…ʻaʻole i loaʻa nā kānāwai kāohi meaola ma ia wā.  Ua ʻae wale ʻia nā ʻoihana e hana e like me ko lākou makemake. ʻO ke kāohi meaola, he mea ia e kāohi ai i nā meaola haipilikia me nā ʻelala a i ʻole nā maʻi no ka ʻāina like o ia mau meaola haipilikia.  Hele mākou i ka ʻāina nona mai ia meaola a hoʻokolohua mākou i mea e hōʻoia ai i ka palekana.”

I loko nō o ka piholo ʻana o kekahi o nā pāhana ma ka mōʻaukala kāohi meaola ma Hawaiʻi nei, ua loaʻa nō nā hopena maikaʻi loa.

“ʻO kekahi mau lāʻana maikaʻi o ke kāohi meaola, ʻo ia nō ka ʻenuhe kiki, ka hopeʻō ʻai wiliwili, a me ka pōnalo kea.  Ua maikaʻi loa ka hopena o ia mau pāhana, eia naʻe ua poina ʻia.  ʻO ka hana maikaʻi, poina wale ʻia,” ka ʻōlelo a Oishi.

Ma muli o kēia hoʻopoina ʻana o ka poʻe i ka hana maikaʻi, hoʻomanaʻo wale ʻia nā hopena hemahema, e like hoʻi me ka hopena o ke kāohi meaola me ka manakuke.

ʻŌlelo mai ʻo Oishi, “Kānalua ke kaiaulu Hawaiʻi i ke kāohi meaola.  ʻOiai he Hawaiʻi au, makemake au e hōʻike aku i ke kaiaulu Hawaiʻi i ka launa o ia mea i ko ka Hawaiʻi kuanaʻike mālama ʻāina.”

No Darcy Oishi, he mea nui ka hoʻonaʻauao ʻana aku i ka lehulehu i nā ʻikepili ʻoiaʻiʻo.

“He mea nui ka hoʻonaʻauao ʻana i ka poʻe i mea e hiki ai iā lākou ke hoʻoholo i ko lākou mau manaʻo ponoʻī no ka kūpono a kūpono ʻole o ke kāohi meaola,” wahi a Oishi.

Inā hoihoi kekahi e aʻo hou aku e pili ana i nā pāhana mālama ʻāina kāohi meaola ma Hawaiʻi, e kipa aku i nā kahuapaʻa i helu ʻia ma ke kahuapaʻa oiwi.tv.

-na Nāhulu Maioho

http://hawaii.gov/hdoa/pi/ppc

http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/programs/ipif/strawberryguava/biocontrol.shtml

http://www.hear.org/strawberryguavabiocontrol/

Ever heard of BIOLOGICAL CONTROL? On September 25, on behalf of the Hawaiʻi Conservation Alliance, Darcy Oishi of the State Department of Agriculture gave a presentation about it to help educate the community. 

Here in Hawaiʻi, bio-control has negative connotations due to past failures.  What exactly is biological control and it’s current standard procedures?

According to Darcy Oishi of the State Department of Agriculture, “When people hear the word “bio-control” what do you think of?  Mongoose!  Mongoose was actually introduced to Hawaiʻi by the Hilo planters association it was done in 1884…the government did not have quarantine rules and regulations, there was no review process, private business was just allowed to do what it wants to do.  Bio-control is a management tool …controlling pests using an insect or a disease that is from that pest’s place of origin. We go to the homeland of the insect or weed and when we find something we bring it and do extensive testing, to make sure it doesn’t affect anything else.”

Despite past failures, there have been positive results from current bio-control efforts.

“Some recent good examples include, um our work on the stinging nettle caterpillar…um our work on the Wiliwili with the erythrina gall wasp, um white flies, all of these projects has been successes, and white flies in particular, people have been forgotten. Good work is rewarded by being forgotten,” Oishi says.

Because good work is forgotten, only the negative impacts are remembered such as the negative affects of the mongoose.

Oishi says, “The Hawaiian community is very…concerned about bio-control…as a Hawaiian myself, one of the things that I want to address is and communicate to people is that, it doesn’t necessarily conflict with our view of the land, and management and our role as stewards of the ʻāina.”

Educating the public with facts is important to Darcy Oishi.

“Its important for people to become informed so they can make their own decisions about weather something like this approach to land management, and protecting our ʻāina is really pono,” Oishi says.

To learn more on efforts concerning mālama ʻāina through bio-control, you can visit the links listed on our oiwi.tv website.

-by Nāhulu Maioho

http://hawaii.gov/hdoa/pi/ppc

http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/programs/ipif/strawberryguava/biocontrol.shtml

http://www.hear.org/strawberryguavabiocontrol/