Plant A Native plant

Polynesians first landed on what is today known as the Hawaiian islands sometime between 1000-1200 AD. Naturally they would have begun to leave their mark on the islands immediately, clearing lands for the canoe crops which were essential for their survival. Coastal areas more heavily share plants found elsewhere in the pacific due to the ability of seeds to float in the ocean and the migrations of seabirds carrying seeds, so it is quite possible the voyagers found some similar plant life as well that was useful to them. Still there were likely also many native plants and other life that disappeared due to the new disturbances created. Following European contact, much more of the islands would come under human habitat, industry, and agriculture. The early hawaiians impact on the islands was nothing compared to the impact sugar, cattle, pineapples, and other large scale operations would have on the islands. We are seeing the effects of these on the islands today both from a climactic point of view and from an ecological point of view. Increased and longer draughts, fires, flooding, and invasive plants, animals, and invertebrates have all wreaked havoc on the island's ecosystems that developed over the millenia. 

What all this comes down to is that relatively little of the prior ecosystems still exists on the islands. Although the likes of Maui and Hawai’i still have some relatively large tracts of native forests, particularly upland, these areas are small refuges for what were incredibly diverse and interesting island environments. Even so, these refugees hold a fraction of the life that once existed there and show systems of extreme fragility due to the combination of changing climates and invasive species pressures upsetting the balance of ecological roles filled by all aspects of life. From birds, to land snails, fruit flies, to understory plants. Many organisms have gone extinct that have caused the systems to get a little out of whack. This is all very glum but many large organizations are working on helping these ecosystems and organisms to allow them to gain back some upper hand on the shifting circumstances that they face.  So what can smaller organizations and private citizens do about this besides being knowledgeable about the plights of these various organisms and the people that deal with them? Planting native vegetation can make a difference. It is the simplest thing that can be done by a single person and can make a huge difference when done on a large scale as well as a small one. Even smaller herbaceous native plants make a difference. There are millions of relationships between the plants of these islands and the native animals and invertebrates. It’s not uncommon to find an insect that relies solely on one type of plant and by having that type of plant spread around a neighborhood or backyards, you can give that insect a bump towards survival. For landscaping, you can’t go wrong with planting the plants who have evolved for up to millions of years to exist on these islands. Many of these plants are beautiful and bring a sense of wow when seeing them while requiring much less care than non-natives. This is particularly evident when people plant some of the native dryland plants, many of which have beauty with robustness. 

If you have a bigger property, the necessary funds, and have large areas full of christmas berries, albizias, koa haoles, kiawes, and other invasives, you can do the islands a favor and replace these with native forests. Sure albizias and kiawes can have their purposes to people whether they be building materials or firewood, but there are many areas people own which they do not touch and so why not make it an area full of native life. There are also many groups that sell native plants and even install them for you. An area that was of no bother to you could continue to be so, but helps preserve some of the island’s biodiversity while maybe even protecting some other species that you didn’t even notice. Long story short, look at native plants whenever you are considering beautifying your landscape, or want to freshen a home up. This goes for elsewhere as well besides the islands. You can’t go wrong with native plants.