Critical habitat designated for 12 endangered species on Hawaiʻi Island

The US Fish and Wildlife Service today designated 119,326 acres as protected critical habitat for 11 plants and a Hawaiian picture-wing fly on Hawai‘i Island. The protected habitat is in 21 distinct areas stretching from the coast through dry forest and grasslands to rainforests on the slopes of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa.

The designation comes in response to litigation from the Center for Biological Diversity.

“This is terrific news. There’s just no way to save these severely endangered species without protecting and restoring the places they call home,” said Maxx Phillips, Hawai‘i director at the Center in a news release announcement. “Protecting habitat is a crucial step but more needs to be done to address threats from fire, development and invasive species like rats and non-native grasses.”

“We grouped the 12 species in this designation based on their interconnectedness and reliance on ecosystems found only on the island of Hawaiʻi,” said Lasha-Lynn Salbosa, Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Office listing and classification manager. 

The US Department of Defense’s Pōhakuloa Training Area was excluded from critical habitat even though it is the only place where the māʻoliʻoli plant, or schiedea hawaiiensis, is found. “The dry forests they need to survive are severely threatened by fires caused by the military’s training activities,” according to the Center news release.

Critical habitat was instead designated on the adjacent Pu‘u Anahulu Game Management Area over the objections of the state. This area, as well as another game management area at Pu‘u Wa‘awa‘a, were the subject of a habitat conservation plan drafted by the state in 2017, but never finalized, according to the Center.

The US FWS says critical habitat is a tool that supports the continued conservation of imperiled species by guiding cooperation within the federal government. “Identifying critical habitat also informs landowners and the public which specific areas are important to a species’ conservation and recovery. The Service can also make the determination to not designate critical habitat when a designation would likely increase the threat of collection, vandalism, or incidental habitat degradation,” according to the US FWS.

“Hawai‘i’s forest, grassland and coastal habitats are breaking down before our very eyes under the relentless onslaught of invasive species and destructive development,” said Phillips. “My heart is breaking at the loss of so many of our plants and animals that can be found nowhere else on the planet. We have to make restoring these critical habitat areas our highest priority.”

The following is a short description of each species, alphabetized by scientific name.  

1.      Bidens hillebrandiana ssp. hillebrandiana (koʻokoʻolau) is a short-lived perennial herb that occurs in coastal and dry cliff ecosystems on rocky substrate near the shoreline. It is found on the windward eastern coast of Kohala near the northern tip of the island.  

2.      Cyanea marksii (hāhā) is a short-lived perennial, shrub or palm-like tree and is found on the west side of the island in the district of South Kona. 

3.      Cyanea tritomantha (‘akū) is a palm-like shrub distributed across the windward slopes of Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa, Kīlauea, and the Kohala Mountains. 

4.       Cyrtandra nanawaleensis (ha‘iwale) is a shrub or small tree found in wet forest ecosystems in the Puna district.  

5.      Cyrtandra wagneri (ha‘iwale, kanawao ke‘oke‘o) is a shrub or small tree found in wet forest ecosystems along the northeast side of the island.  

6.      Melicope remyi (no common name) is a long-lived perennial shrub found on the windward slopes of the Kohala Mountains and Mauna Kea.  

7.      Phyllostegia floribunda (no common name) is a perennial shrub found in mesic forest and wet forest ecosystems along the eastern side of the island.  

8.      Pittosporum hawaiiense (hōʻawa, hāʻawa) is a small tree found in mesic and wet ecosystems on the island.   

9.      Schiedea diffusa ssp. macraei (no common name) is a perennial climbing herb found in the wet forest ecosystem of the Kohala Mountains and the windward slopes of Mauna Loa.  

10.  Schiedea hawaiiensis (māʻoliʻoli) is a perennial herb, and at the time of listing, occurs only at a single site in dry forest habitat between Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea mountains.  

11.  Stenogyne cranwelliae (no common name) is a vine found in the Kohala Mountains in wet forest habitat.  

12.  Drosophila digressa (Hawaiʻi picture-wing fly) has historically been found in five locations on the island in elevations from 2,000 to 4,500 feet in mesic forest and wet forest habitats.  

The Fish and Wildlife Service declined to designate critical habitat for two additional species, an anchialine pool shrimp and the loulu palm, or pritchardia lanigera. The FWS argued that designating critical habitat for those species may increase the likelihood they would be taken by collectors. The Center described both as “severely imperiled” like the 12 species that did receive habitat protections.

The final rule incorporates changes from the March 29, 2023, proposed rule (Docket# FWS-R1-ES-2023-0017) based on information received during the 60-day public comment period. 

*This post was updated to included additional supporting information from the USFWS.