Ka‘ū News Briefs, Monday, November 16, 2020

    The islands already post the lowest case count in the country. 

    From 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., attend Short Term Strategies with Jacques Avelino of CIRAD and Andrea Kawabata of University of Hawaiʻi College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources. CIRAD is the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development, an organization working for the sustainable development of tropical and Mediterranean regions. 

    Avelino will discuss the biology of the causal agent of coffee leaf rust: the fungus Hemileia vastatrix and some epidemiological considerations. He will explain how meteorological variables, topography, coffee tree characteristics, natural enemies and management, particularly nutrition and shade, affect coffee rust development. This knowledge can be used to improve coffee rust management at farm and regional levels. 
    Kawabata will provide updated information on approved fungicides for coffee in Hawaiʻi to help combat Coffee Leaf Rust, including application recommendations. She will also cover necessary general farm practices, hygiene, and sanitation protocols that producers should be implementing on their farms immediately to avoid spreading CLR. 
    Register here. 
    Attend Research, Resources & Regulation from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. with Kevin Hoffman of Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture and Lisa Keith of U.S. Department of Agriculture and Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center. 
    Hoffman will provide an update to attendees on the most current information available to HDOA including new quarantine restrictions. 
    Keith will focus on the pathology of coffee leaf rust in Hawaiʻi, including what is known, not known, and short and long-term research efforts to manage CLR in Hawaiʻi. 
    Register here. 

Coffee Leaf Rust harms coffee plants by destroying the leaves. UH-CTAHR photo

    Farm owners and operators are reminded to notify all farm staff, including seasonal pickers who may work on multiple farms, of new sanitation protocols to mitigate the spread of CLR fungus. Farms are encouraged to share webinar information with farm staff. 

    CLR Spray Publications, English version - www.HawaiiCoffeeEd.com/

CLRSprayEnglish; Spanish version - www.HawaiiCoffeeEd.com/

CLRSprayEspanol. HDOA CLR Field Guide and Submission Form, https://hdoa.hawaii.gov/pi/files/2020/11/CLR-Public-field-guide-with-form.pdf or www.HawaiiCoffeeEd.com/CLRFieldGuideForm.html. See hawaiicoffeeassoc.org.

    Contingent on the state of COVID-19 in Hawaiʻi and throughout the world, the 41,000-mile, 42-month circumnavigation of the Pacific will take Hōkūleʻa and Hikianalia to 46 countries and archipelagoes, nearly 100 indigenous territories, and 345 ports. 

Miloli‘i children and crew of the Hōkūleʻa before her three-year voyage around the world, May 2014 to June 2017.  Photo from Polynesian Voyaging Society

    Polynesian Voyaging Society says the voyage will be focused on "the vital importance of oceans, nature and indigenous knowledge, while developing young crew members, navigators and leaders." The goal "is to engage communities around the world to take part in navigating the earth towards a healthy, thriving future," says PVS.
    Planning for Moananuiākea Voyage and its educational initiatives began two-and-a-half years ago. This year, after several delays due to shutdowns and new safety protocols related to the pandemic, work is now also underway to prepare the vessels and conduct crew training.
    Circumnavigation of the Pacific is tentatively set to start from Alaska in spring 2022. The canoes will return to Honolua Bay, Maui on May 1, 2026, the 50th Anniversary of Hōkūleʻa's 1976 maiden voyage to Tahiti. Before this, PVS is hoping to sail Kealaikahiki, the ancient sea road connecting Hawaiʻi and Tahiti, in Spring of 2021, to train young crew members and navigators, and to ask permission at the sacred navigational heiau of Taputapuatea to embark on the Moananuiākea Voyage. Upon the return from Tahiti, the canoes will sail around the Hawaiian Islands to connect with local communities before departing Hawaiʻi for more than three years.

Hōkūleʻa visited 23 countries, 150 ports and sailed 40,000 nautical miles on her last voyage, from May 2014 to June 2017.  Map from Polynesian Voyaging Society

    Nainoa Thompson, Pwo navigator and president of PVS, said, "We want to be respectful to this global pandemic and its impacts on communities we are hoping to sail to, so although we continue to prepare to voyage, COVID has changed how we do everything. We have also been searching and having many conversations about how Hōkūleʻa and the voyaging family can make a positive contribution and help Hawaiʻi and its people during these very difficult times.
    "Today, we find ourselves facing some of the most challenging threats we've ever faced. From this global pandemic to burning forests, emptying oceans, melting glaciers, rising seas… storms that will change the earth and humanity into the next century and beyond. With the Moananuiākea Voyage, we feel the urgency to seek out and connect a new generation of bold, brilliant and caring leaders around the world who can chart a course for a flourishing future for Hawaiʻi, the Pacific and the Earth. We call these leaders navigators."

Miloliʻi was the first stop when Hōkūleʻa returned to Hawaiʻi Island, following three years of sailing around the world. Onboard, the women chant, sailing into Miloliʻi in 2013. Photo from Polynesian Voyaging Society

    Moananuiākea Voyage will also create a network of "navigators" in communities around the Pacific and, by way of a virtual "Third Canoe," the world. The "Third Canoe" is a platform of communications and education initiatives that will allow room on the deck for a global "crew" of partners connected by common values who are protecting the earth through diverse ways including education, storytelling, science, art, music, poetry, indigenous wisdom and policy-making.
    The goal of the "Third Canoe" is to "inspire people to action and to make good choices around the Pacific and the world," says PVG. Partners include ʻAha Moananuiākea Pacific Consortium (Kamehameha Schools, University of Hawaii and Bishop Museum), Arizona State University, Planetary Health Alliance, Ocean Elders and Nia Tero–a global NGO whose mission is to secure indigenous guardianship for vital ecosystems. They are already developing programs that will scale the educational impact and reach of the Pacific Voyage.

Hōkūleʻa, returning to Miloliʻi after the Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage. Photo by Peter Anderson

    Said Thompson, "Whether our two canoes are able to physically sail or not, the virtual 'Third Canoe' will still go. With partnerships and modern technology, we can still commit to a global voyaging campaign that engages, educates and inspires a movement of caring for people, culture, place and oceans." 

    In the meantime, PVS is in the beginning phases of reaching out to the countries along the tentative voyage route to seek permission to visit and engage during the sail, a PVS protocol practiced prior to each voyage.
    PVS has started a membership drive to help fund the Moananuiākea Voyage and educational campaign. As part of the launch, a one-hour documentary, He Wa’a, He Honua – The Earth Is Our Canoe, is available online for free as part of the Hawaii International Film Festival through Nov. 29. The announcement says the show "takes a look back at the cultural renaissance that began in the 1970s reclaiming language, land, voyaging and other native Hawaiian cultural practices, then shares PVS's plans for the next five years inviting viewers to join Hōkūleʻa in the next renaissance – that of Island Earth."