There is a unique opportunity for someone who really cares about the environment to actually step in and save rare trees in person. I own a home on 2 acres on the Hilo side of the Big Island which I discovered has rare trees on it. I now must sell the property and it is a rare opportunity for an environmentally aware investor to personally save rare trees and acquire a good property and home. Most opportunities to help the environment are remote, big sweeping expensive projects that may or may not help. But in this case, a person who cares about the environment can actually do the saving, or see it happen, creating twenty or more trees out of one. You can actually see the difference you are making. And in a relatively short time, too.
On this page I discuss how to propagate a rare tree that has no seeds, and some of the factors involved in species preservation on Hawaii for all of you who are interested in endangered or rare species. There is another page with the information about the home itself for those in a position to buy it.Home with rare trees
Because it is illegal to take any plant or part of a plant that is rare or endangered from anywhere in the wild, only property owners with rare trees on their property may propagate them. How many properties for sale in Hawaii do you think there are at this time that actually have rare trees on them? Do you understand what an opportunity this is?
Only plants that are on your own property may be handled in any way to make more keikis(baby trees). Recent laws just passed make it legal in Hawaii to pass on to others plants that are rare that you have propagated on your own property, but only if they originated originally on your property.
So if you care about saving this rare tree species, the only way you can do so is by buying property that has it on it. That is why our property is such a great opportunity for those of you who want to make a difference in the environment. To tell the truth, I have not been comfortable selling my house through normal channels because I was so concerned about the preserving of these rare trees. I feel responsible. So if you care about them and can pay cash for this property 3 bedroom, 2 bath house on 2 acres with rare trees, email me right away. Unfortunately, there is every chance that the trees will be plowed under if the property is sold the regular way. We just cannot let that happen, can we?
If you are a person who cares about the environment, who sends money to organizations protecting rainforests in the world, you might be interested in one small situation in this USA. On the Big Island of Hawaii, right in the United States, there are native rainforests that are severely threatened, that have many plants that are becoming rare and endangered because of many pressures like increased building, pig wallows, fires, and other threats.
Species extinction is an issue of serious concern to many people in Hawaii, but the loss of natural forest continues anyway. Did you know, for instance, that the big wild pigs were introduced by the Polynesians when they came to Hawaii? These wild pigs in the native forests root for food, and wallow in mud, causing damage to fragile native plants, and wet areas which are not natural to these plants. Each area of Hawaii has its own threatened species and invader species that are aggressively taking over areas that have native plants. Those of you who have traveled to Hawaii will have seen the inspection stations which attempt to cut down on "invader" species that so aggressively wipe out native species. The same is true of animal species as for plant species. This page is about rare plant species.
The rare trees are Ohia trees with Golden Lehua blossoms, and with special care(they have no seeds) they can survive and increase. Golden Lehua blossom on Ohia tree The picture is fuzzy because it was a throwaway camera. There are lots of Ohia trees on the Big Island of Hawaii, but most have red Lehua blossoms. It is rare to have them with gold or salmon colored Lehua blossoms. It is important because there are fewer and fewer of them because they are on land that is popular to develop.
I have been told that Ohia trees are the first trees that grow onto the lava fields. They are very hardy, but have no seeds. Since there are no seeds, other than mother nature, one of the best ways baby plants can be grown is by allowing individual branches to root into growers moss tied on to the base of the branch. This is done on the adult tree before any trimming is done.
Since these trees do well if they are "topped off" periodically, "topping off" is an ideal time to create the new keikis(baby trees). About 6 weeks or so before the topping of, you go up(usually on a cherry picker) and tie a good amount of grower's moss(like used in hydroponics, I believe) firmly onto each branch close to where it meets the trunk. Garden supply stores will have this moss for you. It will need to stay up in wind and rain, so good tying is important. You would do this for every branch above the place where you plan to top off the tree.(cut the trunk). You might also do it for a few other branches below the "topping off" cut, if they are close together and it would not harm the tree for them to be cut off. You will want to use good data about what is the optimum place to cut off these trees so they will fourish better after. So long as the 6 weeks have normal rainfall, in about 6 weeks, there should be plently of shoots coming off of each branch into its moss bundle.
At the end of the 6 weeks or however long it takes to get plenty of good strong shoots coming from each branch into its moss bundle, you can go back up(in that cherry picker) to remove the branches. First, you cut carefully at the point where the branch meets the trunk, below the moss bundle. The moss bundle now becomes the root system for the branch which is now an independent new keiki(baby tree) and you can plant it into the ground or a suitable pot.
Now that you have saved most of the branches as baby trees, and removed them, you can now "top off" the tree. Be sure to do a clean cut, and be sure to water and add extra of the right soil on the roots of the parent tree so it will flourish. For a hardy species that grows well in rocky areas, be careful not to give it too much richness. Ask around from knowledgable gardeners and shops.
On our property in addition to the rare trees, there are other origial native plants, ferns and others. There are also several varieties of wild orchids that grow very tall and lovely throughout the acres on our property.
Many people remove or plow under native or rare plants and trees from their yards out of ignorance, not realizing what they have and not realizing that it matters. In Hawaii, when homesites are developed, usually a big bulldozer plows under all the natural plants and trees and flattens the land, then covers it with gravel. Most new owners do not even think about the lose of the native plants. The native forests are so dense, even those who might like to save some plants, cannot get through the plots of land to find what they might want to save. Sometimes, even the owners can not save trees on their own land. I heard a story about someone who had specifically marked trees on their property in accordance with the bulldozer company owners recommendations. But when the dozer arrived, the operator ignored all marks and plowed everything under. The property owner stood in front of the dozer, risking injury, screaming and waving arms, but it did no good. The operator just kept on coming, plowing under the trees the owner had marked to be left standing.
Hawaii has one of the highest counts of species extinction. This is an opportunity for someone who cares about such things to make a difference. I used to go to gardening places to ask about native Hawaiian plants so I could plant something that belonged to Hawaii naturally, and not something that is too agressive and is imported. Of five places I consulted, none knew which plants they sold were original native to the area and some acted like I was foolish to even ask. There are lots of people in Hawaii who care about the environment, but there is still opportunity for dedicated people to make a difference in helping with the environment by educating others, and developing low cost methods of clearing land that do not take all the vegetation.
Keep in mind that the laws about endangered and rare plant species are very strict. You may NOT take any plant or part of a plant from the wild, even if you sincerely wish to help it. Please listen carefully to this, great harm has been done to endangered or rare plants by tourists breaking off just one flower, or by well meaning people going into nature to get a rare plant to plant in their yard. Sometimes just the transplanting changes the plant so it is no longer the pure species. Please do abide by the laws on this matter.
I hope someone who cares about the environment buys the house so they can make a difference. All it takes is someone with a green thumb to save these rare trees.
MY OTHER EMAIL IS: alohagrace@angelfire.com.
