Thank you for visiting this site! It is currently under construction and will be completed in fall 2011.

Responsible planting is IMPORTANT for protecting Hawaii.s environment. Invasive plants are plants that arrived in Hawai'i with people or our planes and ships, which spread uncontrollably and cause harm. Invasive plants are one of the greatest threats to Hawai'i, our home. While the majority of non-native plants (plants that arrived with people or our planes and ships) in Hawai'i are either beneficial or harmless to our environment, a small percent are invasive.they spread and negatively impact native Hawaiian plants and animals, agricultural crops, water resources and the health and wellbeing of residents.

We.re going to import and plant more invasive plants. WHAT?! WHY??

• It is LEGAL to import into Hawai'i 99.9% of the 250,000+ plant species that exist on Earth, even ones that are known to be harmfully invasive in similar habitats.
• Agencies do not stop the importation or sale of plants unless they are specifically listed on the very limited Noxious Weed lists.
• Of the 250,000+ plants in the world, 10% will be invasive if imported and grown in Hawai'i
• Most people don.t realize that some plants being sold on the internet or in garden shops could be harmful to the environment. Others don.t realize that birds and the wind easily carry some seeds far beyond their gardens or yards.
• Also, most people don.t know that there are tools that can accurately identify which plants are or will be invasive in Hawai'i.

What can we do? Plant Pono!
Planting pono means taking care to make good planting decisions. Here are three ways you can Plant Pono:

• When buying plants, ask for native Hawaiian plants or plants that are non-invasive (ones that don.t spread easily).
• Gather information. The Native Plants Hawaii webpage, www.nativeplants.hawaii.edu, has information on native plant care and availability. Or, if you have a non-native plant in mind, use a search engine to get more information. Just type the name of the plant (common or botanical name) with the words .invasive. and .Hawai'i. to see if conservation groups are trying to control it. If so, please consider using a different plant.
• Use the Hawai'i Pacific Weed Risk Assessment (HPWRA) system. The HPWRA is a free, non-regulatory .background check. of non-native plants to assess whether they may be invasive in Hawai'i. Over 1,000 species of plants have already been assessed. This system is approximately 95% accurate at predicting whether a plant will be invasive or not. Visit the Hawaii Pacific Weed Risk Assessment website (www.botany.hawaii.edu/faculty/daehler/WRA/ or www.hpwra.org) to see the list of plants that have been assessed. If your plant isn.t on the list, you can have a Weed Risk Assessment Specialist assess the plant for free. Email plant names or questions to hpwra@yahoo.com.

The www.plantpono.org website will consolidate these resources for easy access and use. Don.t forget to check back in fall 2011! Mahalo!

Comments or questions on this information or plantpono.org website, please contact Christy Martin, (808) 722-0995 or christym@rocketmail.com . This project is funded by the DLNR Kaulunani Urban and Community Forestry program and the Hawai'i Invasive Species Council, with support of the Coordinating Group on Alien Pest Species, the USGS Pacific Basin Information Node and Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk.