How Did The Hawaiian Plants Protect Native Plants

Most people don’t know that even though Hawaii is only 0.2% of the United State’s land mass, it has 25% of its endangered species. The Hawaiian islands have more endangered species than anywhere else in the world. Currently, there are ninety-seven extinct native Hawaiian plants. This paper will cover the history, effects, and the solutions to protecting native Hawaiian plants. It all started in the 19th century, when white settlers came to the Hawaiian Islands. When they arrived, and brought goods to the islands, they also brought many pests. According to the article “Hawaii’s feral goats: Cute but Destructive” By Big Island Now, in 1778, Captain James Cook, presented Kamehameha the First with pigs and goats. These gifts seemed favorable at the time, however, the pigs would trample and uproot native Hawaiian plants and the goats would graze on these plants as well as trample them.
Another detriment occurred in 1793. Captain James Vancouver brought cattle to Hawaii. It was intended to be a gift to King Kamehameha the First. This seemed like a good addition, however, these cattle would graze on the land and kill many native Hawaiian plants. The cattle also trampled the plants with their hooves, killing endemic plants and leaving space for invasive plants to grow. Another harmful animal that arrived
In the Audubon’s article “Protecting Hawaii’s Precious Plants” it reads “I’ll have three different interns learning about propagating native plants and then also doing restoration projects at three work sites on Oahu. A big part of my fellowship project focuses on introducing students to green jobs. Native-plant propagation and restoration has a lot to do with jobs in natural resource management.” This is a good solution because not only does the nursery restore the native Hawaiian plant populations, it also teaches people in the community how to care for