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New Fence Built to Protect Kanaele Bog

Milestone in effective bog conservation achieved

HONOLULU, HAWAI‛I — June 26, 2008 — The Nature Conservancy of Hawai‘i recently completed construction of a protective fence around the Kanaele Bog in the mountains of south Kaua‘i. 
 
At 2,100 feet above sea level, Kanaele is the only remaining low-elevation bog in the Hawaiian Islands and contains many rare and endangered plant species.

The 6,552-foot-long fence now encloses the 80-acre Conservancy preserve to keep out wild pigs, which have damaged most of the area to the south.

“This fence represents a major conservation milestone for us,” said Trae Menard, director of the Conservancy’s Kaua’i Program. “Kanaele is a natural treasure. Nothing like it exists anywhere on the planet.”

Kanaele Bog is an ecologist’s gem – a mosaic of low-growing sedges, stunted trees, and unique plants. Its rare species, some of which are known only to live in this tiny 80-acre bog, include tiny endangered bog violets, carnivorous sundews (mikinalo), and the showy Lobelia kauaensis, with its tall spire of white-petaled flowers streaked with purple.

The preserve was established in 2003 through a management agreement with landowner Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. (A&B) The agreement allows the Conservancy to protect the bog’s unique natural community of plants and invertebrates as well as to manage, maintain and undertake other conservation activities at Kanaele.

Pigs and weeds are the primary threats to the bog. Menard said, “The fence will prevent pigs from damaging the fragile bog ecosystem and allow the native bog vegetation to recover.” Targeted invasive plants will be removed from within the enclosure.

Costing $149,000, the fence was designed and constructed by the Conservancy in collaboration with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and McBryde Sugar, a Kaua‘i-based subsidiary of A&B. The fence was partially funded by the USFWS and various private donors, and was built by Remote Fencing Outfitters, a private contractor.

High-quality, durable materials, including corrosion-resistant galvanized mesh coated with polyurethane, were used to enable the fence to withstand the bog’s wet environment. Kanaele receives an average annual rainfall of 161 inches.

A bog is a special class of wetland maintained by high rainfall or groundwater levels. The soil is shallow, poorly drained, acidic peat (partially decomposed vegetation). Plants found within bogs are severely stunted. The challenging water-saturated, acidic conditions result in special bog-adapted plants that can exist in no other habitat. These signature bog plants distinguish Hawaiian bogs from other wetlands.

“The fence is really just the first step to effective bog conservation,” Menard said. “The next steps entail weed control. With the bog protected from pigs and weeds, rare plant reintroduction can then take place to build more robust populations.”

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.