Hawaiʻi native plants compete for $10,000 conservation prize

Two native Hawaiian plant species are competing in a global online contest for a $10,000 grant to help save the trees and shrubs from the brink of extinction.

The Uproar Conservation Challenge, hosted by the Indianapolis Zoo, features the foundational ʻōhiʻa tree and the critically endangered kanaloa. Both are among 64 species vying for public votes in a tournament-style bracket.

The funding would support efforts to protect species unique to the islands, state officials said. Additional resources could be used to fight pathogens like Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death, which has already destroyed more than 100,000 acres on Hawaiʻi Island.

“Hawaiian species should absolutely dominate this competition,” said Emma Yuen, native ecosystems manager for the Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Forestry and Wildlife.

“Hawaiʻi has long been called the extinction capital of the world, and we have fought very hard to reverse that title. If anywhere in the world deserves to have its species come ʻroaring back’ from the threat of extinction, it’s Hawaiʻi,” Yuen said.

The kanaloa faces a particularly steep climb. Once thought to be extinct, only two plants were rediscovered in 1992 on a small islet off Kahoʻolawe. Today, only about 20 of the plants exist.

Matt Keir, a botanist with the Division of Forestry and Wildlife, said Hawaiian plants should have the competition “in the bag,” adding “no offense to the Indiana sooty-spored freshwater fungus.”

The first round of voting runs through March 19 at www.uproarchallenge.com. Additional voting rounds are scheduled for March 20, 24, 27, and 30.