Reduce the current and future impacts of CRB to the agriculture, ecology, businesses, and culture of hawaii and to prevent the introduction of CRB and associated impacts to other hawaiian islands,…

The University of Hawaii at Manoa received a $1.36M cooperative agreement from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) under the Plant and Animal Disease, Pest Control, and Animal Care program (CFDA 10.025), effective September 1, 2025, through August 31, 2026. The award supports comprehensive efforts to reduce and contain Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle (CRB) populations in Hawaii and prevent further geographic spread. Core deliverables include implementing a tiered management system prioritizing CRB reduction around ports and commodity staging facilities on Oahu; establishing enhanced monitoring protocols on non-infested Hawaiian islands through remote sensing and interagency partnerships; and developing scalable management tools for landscaping professionals, arborists, pest control companies, and community groups.

Additional outputs include creation of a regional Pacific toolkit adapting Hawaii-developed resources to broader geographical applicability, and establishment of a regional CRB research and extension hub leveraging multiple funding sources. The initiative incorporates outreach and training to increase commercial and public participation in CRB monitoring and management, with intended beneficiaries including the State of Hawaii, other Pacific islands without CRB presence, and palm-growing regions throughout the United States. No sub-awards were identified at the time of the award.

Purpose

The purpose is to reduce the current and future impacts of CRB to the agriculture, ecology, businesses, and culture of hawaii and to prevent the introduction of CRB and associated impacts to other hawaiian islands, US states, and nations where CRB has not yet been found.

Activities

Reduce CRB populations on oahu as guided by a tier system, which prioritizes routes of exit. Priority areas includes a buffer surrounding ports (air and sea) and properties where potentially infested commodities like mulch, compost, and palms are staged before transit off oahu; increase monitoring on non-infested hawaiian islands by remote sensing and partnerships with other organizations and agencies, coupled with eradication response if incipient populations are detected; increase commercial and public participation in the monitoring and management of CRB facilitated by outreach and training; establish a regional hub for CRB research and extension by leveraging diverse funding sources. Deliverables and expected outcomes: prevent CRB from leaving oahu through known routes of transit; increased monitoring on non-infested hawaiian islands; development of management tools at scalable levels for landscaping professionals, arborists, pest control companies, individuals, and community groups; creation of a regional tool kit for the pacific by adapting content developed for hawaii to a broader regional scope and creating a website, crbpacific.COM, to help facilitate information sharing. Intended beneficiary(IES): the state of hawaii, other islands in the pacific who do not have CRB, and palm-growing regions of the U.S. Subrecipient activities, if known or specified at the time of award: no subawards.