$14 million is being applied to a strategy to save Hawai'i's endemic forest birds, such as the Crested honeycreeper, from extinction/Robby Kohley via USFWS

In a move to further advance efforts to save Hawaii's endemic forest birds from demise, the Interior Department has launched a multi-million-dollar strategy to combat a disease, avian malaria, that is deadly to the birds.

That announcement Thursday follows Haleakalā National Park's own announcement last week that it was opening a public comment period on plans to upend the reproduction of mosquitoes that carry avian malaria that is deadly to the birds.

The Hawaiian islands once counted more than 50 species of endemic forest birds, but today there are fewer than 17 species, according to the National Park Service, some with fewer than 500 individuals left. The kiwikiu, a variety of honeycreeper also known as the Maui Parrotbill, is one of the dwindling species and is predicted to vanish from the Earth in just six years. Once abundant across Maui and Moloka'i, today fewer than 200 individuals are believed to be found across less than 8,000 acres on Maui in Haleakalā National Park, Hanawi Natural Area Reserve, and The Nature Conservancy’s Waikamoi Preserve.

The kiwikiu's decline has been driven by loss of habitat to the encroaching human footprint, natural predators, and even feral cats. Today, though, the invasive Culex mosquito poses perhaps the greatest threat, for these insects can not only reach the kiwikiu in the highest koa branches, but they are moving higher and higher in the mountains on the island, following this honeycreeper species. And when bugs poke the birds for a quick meal, they can leave behind a deadly dose of avian malaria.

Interior officials said Thursday that Hawaiian forest birds are an integral ecological and cultural component to the Hawaiian Islands. "They are representative of the health of the forest and remain a cultural connection between the Native Hawaiian Community and the Hawaiian Islands. Many native and endemic species evolved for centuries in isolation, free from threats such as avian malaria spread by invasive mosquitoes," the department said in a release.

You can learn more about the problem and the approach to halting avian malaria in Haleakalā in this story from the Traveler.

Under the strategy, $14 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will be used to:

• Conduct an environmental assessment led by the National Park Service and in cooperation with the Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources to evaluate the impacts of deploying a new technique to manage mosquitoes, using a naturally occurring bacteria known as Wobachia, to reduce the mosquito vector of avian malaria.  The proposed project area includes lands on Maui within Haleakalā National Park, adjacent state lands, and private conservation lands that are managed independently by The Nature Conservancy.
• Hire and deploy field staff to expand the Insect Incompatibility Technique (IIT) effort to high elevation areas on Kauaʻi.
• Increase the Interior Department’s and the state of Hawaiʻi’s efforts in IIT product development, packaging, registration, testing and deployment.
• Contract and plan for construction of additional captive care facilities in Hawaiʻi for forest bird conservation.
• Plan for translocation of some forest birds to higher mosquito-free habitats on Hawaiʻi Island.
• Fund USGS research to confirm efficacy of deploying IIT and identification and development of next-generation tools that could include biotechnology for targeting mosquitoes or increasing malaria resistance in birds.
• Incorporate Native Hawaiian biocultural knowledge into all planned conservation actions, including use of appropriate traditional cultural protocols and practices.

“Hawaiʻi’s forest birds are facing an extinction crisis, in part because rising temperatures caused by climate change have enabled mosquitoes to reach high-elevation areas that were once sanctuaries for these birds,” said Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Shannon Estenoz. “Through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and other investments, we can help protect and conserve these species through a coordinated strategy that considers Hawai‘i’s unique ecosystems and the islands’ natural and cultural heritage.” 

Working on the strategy are the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, Office of Native Hawaiian Relations, National Park Service, and Office of Policy Analysis.

“The forest birds of Hawaiʻi are unique, not only because of their evolutionary history but their cultural significance to the Native Hawaiian people,” said Earl Campbell, field supervisor, USFWS’ Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Office. “We must continue working with our conservation partners as we strive to preserve our forest birds for future generations.”

"The National Park Service, along with our partners, is stepping up to address this urgent issue with a creative, landscape-scale solution to save Hawaiian forest birds. The time for action, and controlling non-native mosquitoes, is now. Partner and community support will be key to saving these birds,” said Haleakalā Superintendent Natalie Gates. 

If the mosquito strategy proves successful, it will be applied at Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. 

Avian malaria causes widespread mortality of endemic honeycreepers and other forest birds, and a single bite by an infected mosquito is fatal for some species. Four Hawaiian honeycreepers – ‘akikiki (Kauaʻi honeycreeper), ‘akeke‘e (Hawaiian honeycreeper), ‘ākohekohe (crested honeycreeper) and kiwikiu (Maui parrotbill) – may go extinct within the next 10 years due to these combined impacts. Nine additional bird species are at risk of extinction in the foreseeable future if landscape-level management solutions cannot be implemented.