#miconia

Crews with the Maui Invasive Species Committee say aerial eradication efforts of a 175-acre little fire ant infestation in Nāhiku has reached a turning point. The infestation was discovered in 2014 during an effort to remove invasive Nicosia plants from the area.

Two people who have successfully helped the Maui Invasive Species Committee since its inception are Teya Penniman, acting manager, and Christy Martin, who started with MISC in 2000, but now helps with statewide issues including policy and funding. Maui Now’s Gary Kubota interviewed Martin and Penniman as part of this People of Maui series.

In the summer of 2021, a BBC film crew journeyed into East Maui and The Nature Conservancy’s Waikamoi Preserve to film segments for a new series called the Green Planet, which will be screened virtually on July 26.

This week marks the start of the 3rd Annual Hawaiʻi Invasive Species Awareness Week. In observance, state agencies and private partners working to rid the islands of these damaging species are highlighting 10 particularly bad offenders.

MISC members were credited for working to guard the county from environmental threats including coqui frogs, pampas grass, veiled chameleons, miconia, and more.