HFI entered into a contract with the National Park Service and expanded Jill Wagner’s seed bank contract to provide forest restoration services at the coastal dryland forest in Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park in South Kona, Hawai‘i Island. Jill is working with the National Park Service to develop a comprehensive program for coastal dryland forest management in Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park, which will include projects involving plant propagation, seed collection and storage, maintenance of rare species, nursery management, and development of educational and interpretation materials that link Hawaiian traditional practices to the coastal dryland forest.
The long term plan for vegetation management at Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park is to remove exotic plant species and 1) expose the in situ seed bank for natural regeneration, and 2) restore native and Polynesian-introduced plants by outplanting cuttings and seed-generated plants and sowing seed collected from within the Park. Jill’s activities include mulching and fertilizing native trees and plants, regularly checking irrigation system performance, collecting seed, monitoring threatened and endangered species, conducting nursery management workshops, outplanting native plants, holding planning meetings on site, processing seed (cleaning seed), storing seed, and maintaining a seed database.
