Laukahi: The Hawai‘i Plant Conservation Network celebrating successes and tackling challenges

Laukahi: The Hawai‘i Plant Conservation Network is thinking critically about our future in plant conservation as we create our next 5-year Action Plan. This is an opportunity to celebrate successes for plants and our network, and also an opportunity to address the most pressing challenges in plant conservation in Hawai‘i. Some of our successes include reconnecting with partners, getting more plants into protected collections through the network, updating our database and dashboard, launching ex situ and in situ assessments, and expanding our outreach activity. Our challenges include securing funding to grow the Laukahi program to include another staff member, our increasing list of endangered plants in Hawai‘i (Hawai‘i has 260 plant taxa with 50 individuals or less in the wild), and understanding if the network has the capacity and resources to restore the landscape with native plants. We welcome feedback from CPC members to better understand what the Laukahi program is doing well, where we could improve, and opportunities for funding.