Stop the Spread of CRB on Hawaiʻi Island
January 28 Update:
Your voices were heard! Mahalo nui to everyone who testified in support of Hawaiʻi Island’s community call for action to stop the spread of coconut rhinoceros beetles (CRB).
Yesterday, more than 200 pages of written testimony and hours of compelling verbal testimony made clear to the Board of Agriculture and Biosecurity that regulatory intervention is urgently needed and further delay is not acceptable.
As a direct result of this public pressure, the Board directed Department of Agriculture staff to move forward with interim rulemaking - with instructions to bring them back for final approval by its March 24 meeting.
This is GREAT news! Having a deadline is essential, as CRB has been spreading across north Kona for nearly a year, without any regulatory actions by Department staff.
The next step will be a meeting and recommendation from the Advisory Committee on Plants and Animals - please stay tuned for more updates and calls to action!
In the meantime, thank you again for doing your part to fight for a CRB-free future for our islands and the generations to come.
January 22 Action:
As coconut rhinoceros beetles (CRB) gain an increasing foothold in north Kona, the continued movement of untreated plants, mulch, and other “host material” originating from CRB-infested areas threatens the entire island with the imminent, and permanent, establishment of this devastating pest.
Accordingly, Hawaiʻi Island community members, including the Hawaiʻi Wildlife Fund and Pōhaku Pelemaka, have petitioned the Board of Agriculture and Biosecurity to take immediate action, through proposed rules that would require training, treatment, and other best management practices for any businesses wishing to transport high-risk CRB host material from an infested area (more information here). This petition has now been agendized for initial consideration before the Board at 9 am on Tuesday, January 27, 2026.
Your testimony is needed now, to ensure the Board’s support of the petition. After months of regulatory inaction, this may be our last chance to protect Hawaiʻi Island from the potentially irreversible agricultural, ecological, cultural, and economic impacts of CRB.
Please take a moment to submit written testimony to the Board of Agriculture and Biosecurity (sample testimony and testimony instructions below), and testify verbally if can in person at Dept. of Agriculture and Biosecurity/Plant Quarantine, 1849 Auiki Street, Honolulu, HI 96819, or virtually at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84644663177.
Mahalo nui,
Wayne
Take Action Now
Submit written testimony by Monday, January 26, at 9 am (later is OK).
Send email to: DAB.BOARD.TESTIMONY@HAWAII.GOV, jodie.HWF@gmail.com
Subject line: Agenda IV.B.1 - Petition to Initiate Administrative Rulemaking to Contain/Slow the Spread of CRB on Hawaiʻi Island
Sample testimony: See below
Attend the BAB meeting on Tuesday, January 27, starting at 9am, via Zoom or in person.
Forward this email and spread the word
Sample Testimony
Aloha e Chair Hurd and Members of the Board of Agriculture and Biosecurity,
My name is [your name] from [your home],and I am urging you to approve the initiation of rulemaking to prevent the devastating establishment of coconut rhinoceros beetles (CRB) on Hawaiʻi Island, as reflected in the petition put forward by Hawaiʻi Wildlife Fund and Pōhaku Pelemaka.
Mahalo nui for your past actions in support of the Molokaʻi community, as they sought your help in protecting their island from the potentially devastating impacts of the CRB. Now, Hawaiʻi Island needs your help, as more and more beetles and breeding sites are discovered in north Kona, and as mulch and other high-risk vectors of CRB continue to be moved from infested areas to other regions on Hawaiʻi Island without any regulatory oversight.
[optional: provide your own stories, experiences, concerns, or other manaʻo here]
The irreversible establishment of CRB on Hawaiʻi Island may be imminent - and inevitable, if the movement of untreated host material is allowed to continue unabated. Your decision on this matter may be our last chance to prevent the establishment of CRB on Hawaiʻi Island, and the generations-long impacts this will have on the island’s food security, cultural integrity, native species, and overall economy.
Notably, the widespread distribution of CRB on Hawaiʻi Island will also exacerbate the risk of the pest being introduced and established on other islands, via the off-shipment of host material or other forms of interisland transportation.
Please support these modest but critical rules, which simply ask for compliance agreements for training, treatment, and other best management practices before CRB host material can be moved from a known infested area.
Time is of the essence.
Mahalo nui for your consideration of this testimony.
[your name]