CTAHR Hosts Native Hawaiian Plant Workshop

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Posted: Jun 27, 2002

The College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR) at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa will host a native plant workshop, "Native Plants in Public Places: Hawaiʻi‘s Unique Biological Heritage," on Friday, July 12, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Pacific Beach Hotel in Waikīkī. Conference participants will have the opportunity to view some of the 282 endangered and threatened Native Hawaiian plant species and learn the latest in propagating, maintaining, and designing with Native Hawaiian plants.

The 282 endangered and threatened Native Hawaiian plant species are listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. As a result, federal and state laws requiring the use of Native Hawaiian plants in public landscaping projects are driving sustainable opportunities to preserve and grow these unique plants. Increasing consumer demand for Native Hawaiian plants in commercial and residential landscaping is also contributing to the conservation efforts.

Featured speakers include well-known figures such as Paul Weissich, former director of the Honolulu Botanic Gardens, and Dr. Gregory Koob, a botanist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service who established the protocols for the cloning of many of Hawaiʻi‘s endangered plant species. Joining them are Dennis Kim, award-winning landscape architect and planning consultant who is operator of the largest native nursery on Oahu and a conference co-sponsor; Jason Umemoto, ASLA, a landscape architect and master planning consultant knowledgeable about the use of native plants and xeriscaping principles; and Leland Bryan Miyano, a landscape designer recently honored by the Garden Club of America and the founder and president of the Native Hawaiian Wildlife Association, a nonprofit organization to save Hawaiian endemic plants and animals.

The workshop agenda is designed for landscape architects, nurserymen, landscape contractors, Native Hawaiian organizations, governmental agencies, arborists, planners, developers, garden clubs, environmental and conservation groups, and any interested individuals. A native plant display will be included in the program, as well as book displays on the topic.

Major conference sponsors include the Landscape Association of Hawaiʻi (LICH), DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife, Kaulunani, USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region, Dennis S.Q. Kim Nursery, and Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc. Additional sponsorship is being provided by the Garden Club of Honolulu, Hawaiʻi Association of Nurserymen, Hawaiʻi Island Landscape Association, Hawaiʻi Landscape & Irrigation Association, Maui Association of Landscape Professionals, Native Pathfinders Institute, Inc., Nutricote, R&S Nii Nursery, RM Towill, Scenic Hawaiʻi, Diamond Head Sprinkler Supply, and The Outdoor Circle.

The registration fee for the workshop is $100. The original registration deadline of June 30 has been extended to July 6. The registration fee increases to $125 for forms submitted or postmarked after July 6. The fee includes conference materials, admission to all sessions, morning coffee and pastries, buffet lunch, and afternoon pau hana refreshments.

For more information about the conference, contact Jay Deputy of CTAHR at (808) 956-2150, or visit http://www2.ctahr.hawaii.edu/forestry/Data/Workshops/NativePlants/index.asp.

For more information, visit: http://www2.ctahr.hawaii.edu/forestry/Data/Workshops/NativePlants/index.asp.