Lehua island kauai is one of the most important sanctuaries for seabirds in the state of hawaii

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, through its Coastal Program (CFDA 15.630), awarded a $165,000 Project Grant to the State of Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) to support active restoration of Lehua Island's ecosystems. The funding will be used to control introduced avian predators, such as barn owls, that threaten the island's diverse seabird populations, as well as enhance biosecurity measures to maintain Lehua's rat-free status. This project aims to improve the health of coastal habitats around Lehua Island by protecting native seabird communities, which are facing habitat loss due to sea-level rise on other low-lying Hawaiian islands. Key anticipated outcomes include a reduction in barn owl depredations and increased biosecurity surveillance coverage on the island. The grant award period runs from October 1, 2024, to September 30, 2026.

More than twenty species of native seabirds are recorded on lehua island. This high altitude and ratfree island provides a safe refuge for nesting native seabirds including species facing habitat loss due to sea level rise on lowlying hawaiian islands. However introduced avian predators such as barn OWL still threaten lehua S seabird communities by depredating adult and young seabirds. Moreover continuous biosecurity surveillance is needed to ensure the ratfree status of lehua. This project aims to ensure the active restoration of lehua ecosystems by keeping up the control of introduced avian predators and by increasing the biosecurity measures to keep the ratfree status of lehua island. More frequent visits to the island through the project activities will also allow US to maintain and improve the facilities on lehua. As a result of project activities we expect to see a reduction in the number of barn OWL depredations and increased biosecurity surveillance coverage on the island. This project is expected to improve the health of coastal habitats around lehua through healthier seabird populations on the island.