What Hawaiians do you know who survive by eating strawberry guavas? I enjoy eating them on trailside when I am up in the mountain during the right time of year, but I don't live off of them, and I would rather see healthy native forest than a mountain covered with strawberry guava. I would rather see the hundreds of kinolau of our aumakua and akua thriving up in the mountains than see the uncontrolled millions of descendants of a South American introduction by Don Francisco Marin in the 1800s, preventing all other plants from even germinating.
The value of the kini akua in the form of all the native plants and animals of our forests is infinitely higher in my mind than the luxury of snacking on strawberry guava when I hike. I'd give up the strawberry guava any day if it means that the native forest has a fighting chance. To defend strawberry guava as a Hawaiian resource is not well-founded!
I ko'u mana'o wale ia
'Ohu
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prefer common guava (less aggresive, plus at least can make preserves) but better yet- 'ohi'a'ai !!! and rosy apples.... what happened to them on oahu? heard a rumor that a rust wiped them out, and is taking out ohia now. do you know anything about that?
is this happening on other islands?
The myrtle rust is indeed denuding rose apple, and serves as a dire warning of what could happen to our `ohi`a forests if a variant of the rust is introduced. The source of the rust? uncontrolled importation of ornamental plants by the horticultural trade. The message has been made clear, and there is now a voluntary ban on importations of the entire family Myrtaceae (which includes `ohi`a, mountain apple, pua-rata, bottlebrush, eucalyptus, paperbark, guavas, java plum, rose apple, ornamental myrtles, and a host of other plants). Protecting `ohi`a is immensely important, as `ohi`a forest provides the backbone of our native watershed forests, and therefore our water supply.
Most people just don't realize how much we rely on our native ecosystems for our very livelihood...
The rose apple diebacks are being reported on several islands, including Maui, O`ahu and Kaua`i. Drive up the Likelike if you want to see the dying rose apple, and then imagine if that was `ohi`a forest dying. frightening!
what are bioremediations or human mediations of the myrtle rust?
any intervention happening besides the voluntary ban?
sorry for so many questions, maybe should start specific thread....
it seems like not many notice this is happening but just a few who miss our favorite forest pupu. the silence on this current eco-event makes me kinda nervous!
I note that a few days ago, OHA trustees made a unanimous move to support the position of the Hawaii Conservation Alliance regarding the threat of uncontrolled strawberry guava, and the careful testing of biological control. I applaud their good judgement. Kamehameha Schools land assets division has also officially adopted the HCA position. KAHEA should read the HCA position statement on Strawberry guava and get behind the proper protection of the kinolau aumakua of our wao nahele. KAHEA has been tentative and inappropriately silent on the issue, while it should be cautiously supportive.
You can't please everyone, certainly not misguided loud-mouthed haole coqui frog lovers who are defending strawberry guava on moku o Keawe, so you should support the land and the native plants and animals threatened by strawberry guava. Just my mana'o there...
Just for convenience, here is the HCA position statement:
"The introduced South American plant strawberry guava or waiawī (Psidium cattleianum) is one of the most aggressive and rapidly spreading invasive weeks in Hawai‘i. Strawberry guava negatively affects our native biodiversity, agricultural productivity, water resources, and the traditional and contemporary uses and values these represent to the people of Hawai‘i. Adding a biocontrol effort to existing mechanical and chemical efforts to control this weed is an important component of an integrated management strategy. The Hawai‘i Conservation Alliance supports the responsible use of well-designed, rigorously tested, and appropriately reviewed biocontrol as a tool for invasive species management. HCA supports approval of the release of Tectococcus ovatus, which has undergone rigorous testing, as a tool to assist in the control of strawberry guava."
I think most people don't know to report on the defoliated rose apple they see along the Likelike Freeway - People are getting so detached from their natural surroundings that they just presume its "normal" no matter what they are seeing. It really does take somebody who knows that the change is unusual to raise the issue, and then they'd need to know who to raise the issue with! There are now studies dealing with ohia rust that are monitoring ohia in natural areas. Prevention is the only viable current strategy, but is that naive?
If smallpox and the other horrible epidemics that decimated Hawaiians in the 1800s could have been prevented, would it only mean that those epidemics would have arrived and done their damage decades or even a century later? Would there still have been thousands of unpreventable deaths? Or would our modern medical advances have saved the population from that crash?
So, similarly, do we try to stave off the introduction of the ohia rust via quarantine of introduction of any plants in the ohia family until research can develop a cure? Or perhaps until those imports can be treated beforehand? Ensuring that imports are disease-free is the easier thing to do perhaps, because curing the forests of Hawaii once disease has already gotten here would be near-impossible to do.
It would have to be a cure that can be applied at the landscape level (e.g., biologically spread) and that effectively vaccinates all our ohia forests at a rate faster than the rust could spread naturally if it were to arrive. We certainly don't have anything close to that at present, nor can we expect it can be developed any time soon.
Ohia rust should be the modern snake. We pride ourselves on "no snakes in Hawaii" and "no rabies in Hawaii" But to achieve that status we have to invest in the prevention programs, and that takes funding and political will.
To me, just as in so many other things, it is a matter of developing good alternatives. If waiawi can be cleared out and replaced with the hapu'u, ohi'a, koki'o, etc. that it is crowding out, awesome!
Until then, it makes great jam, lomi sticks, and firewood, and it does have its own beauty. The vitamin content is high and the vitamin C preserves unusually long (most fruits break down fast) after being cooked.
I don't expect everyone to agree with me, but I have a lot of aloha for just about everything that grows, and would feel sad not to appreciate the good part fully. That being said, I've also put my machete to lots & lots of waiawi, which is hard enough to cause big dings in my blade!
I'm certainly not against its removal, but I have learned the hard way (I'm sure most aloha 'aina practitioners have flubbed on this one at least once -- whether they admit it or not -- or at least seen it done on some scale) that without the actual implementation of a really good solid plan (that takes into account those unexpected movements of the universe), worse weeds can come in, and that's really not ok.
Also, Ikaika B. made an excellent point about "weeds" in another discussion, in that soil health is of utmost importance, and clearing must be done very carefully for this reason. The microbial function of topsoil needs very careful malama, or we might be back to relying on Monsanto for their Roundup (and hence GMO's) in a very short time.
Then again, I could be missing inside info (while I'm going off like this!). Is there some "pro-waiawi movement" or commercial interest involved?
Your logic is good, culturally correct, and surely in line with the cosmology of our 'Akua and personal 'Aumakua.
If some of the proponents of continued waiawi culture could see some of the impenetrable "forests" in the foothills of the Waianae's - they may change their tune.
Replies
is this happening on other islands?
Most people just don't realize how much we rely on our native ecosystems for our very livelihood...
The rose apple diebacks are being reported on several islands, including Maui, O`ahu and Kaua`i. Drive up the Likelike if you want to see the dying rose apple, and then imagine if that was `ohi`a forest dying. frightening!
any intervention happening besides the voluntary ban?
sorry for so many questions, maybe should start specific thread....
it seems like not many notice this is happening but just a few who miss our favorite forest pupu. the silence on this current eco-event makes me kinda nervous!
You can't please everyone, certainly not misguided loud-mouthed haole coqui frog lovers who are defending strawberry guava on moku o Keawe, so you should support the land and the native plants and animals threatened by strawberry guava. Just my mana'o there...
Just for convenience, here is the HCA position statement:
"The introduced South American plant strawberry guava or waiawī (Psidium cattleianum) is one of the most aggressive and rapidly spreading invasive weeks in Hawai‘i. Strawberry guava negatively affects our native biodiversity, agricultural productivity, water resources, and the traditional and contemporary uses and values these represent to the people of Hawai‘i. Adding a biocontrol effort to existing mechanical and chemical efforts to control this weed is an important component of an integrated management strategy. The Hawai‘i Conservation Alliance supports the responsible use of well-designed, rigorously tested, and appropriately reviewed biocontrol as a tool for invasive species management. HCA supports approval of the release of Tectococcus ovatus, which has undergone rigorous testing, as a tool to assist in the control of strawberry guava."
If smallpox and the other horrible epidemics that decimated Hawaiians in the 1800s could have been prevented, would it only mean that those epidemics would have arrived and done their damage decades or even a century later? Would there still have been thousands of unpreventable deaths? Or would our modern medical advances have saved the population from that crash?
So, similarly, do we try to stave off the introduction of the ohia rust via quarantine of introduction of any plants in the ohia family until research can develop a cure? Or perhaps until those imports can be treated beforehand? Ensuring that imports are disease-free is the easier thing to do perhaps, because curing the forests of Hawaii once disease has already gotten here would be near-impossible to do.
It would have to be a cure that can be applied at the landscape level (e.g., biologically spread) and that effectively vaccinates all our ohia forests at a rate faster than the rust could spread naturally if it were to arrive. We certainly don't have anything close to that at present, nor can we expect it can be developed any time soon.
Ohia rust should be the modern snake. We pride ourselves on "no snakes in Hawaii" and "no rabies in Hawaii" But to achieve that status we have to invest in the prevention programs, and that takes funding and political will.
So be nervous, be very nervous!
Until then, it makes great jam, lomi sticks, and firewood, and it does have its own beauty. The vitamin content is high and the vitamin C preserves unusually long (most fruits break down fast) after being cooked.
I don't expect everyone to agree with me, but I have a lot of aloha for just about everything that grows, and would feel sad not to appreciate the good part fully. That being said, I've also put my machete to lots & lots of waiawi, which is hard enough to cause big dings in my blade!
I'm certainly not against its removal, but I have learned the hard way (I'm sure most aloha 'aina practitioners have flubbed on this one at least once -- whether they admit it or not -- or at least seen it done on some scale) that without the actual implementation of a really good solid plan (that takes into account those unexpected movements of the universe), worse weeds can come in, and that's really not ok.
Also, Ikaika B. made an excellent point about "weeds" in another discussion, in that soil health is of utmost importance, and clearing must be done very carefully for this reason. The microbial function of topsoil needs very careful malama, or we might be back to relying on Monsanto for their Roundup (and hence GMO's) in a very short time.
Then again, I could be missing inside info (while I'm going off like this!). Is there some "pro-waiawi movement" or commercial interest involved?
Aloha, L.
Your logic is good, culturally correct, and surely in line with the cosmology of our 'Akua and personal 'Aumakua.
If some of the proponents of continued waiawi culture could see some of the impenetrable "forests" in the foothills of the Waianae's - they may change their tune.
Mahalo.
ku