{"id":266,"date":"2024-10-09T01:37:48","date_gmt":"2024-10-09T01:37:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/waileaekahi.com\/blog\/?p=266"},"modified":"2024-10-09T01:37:50","modified_gmt":"2024-10-09T01:37:50","slug":"honolulus-dying-palms-to-be-replaced-with-this-new-tree-for-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/waileaekahi.com\/blog\/?p=266","title":{"rendered":"Honolulu\u2019s Dying Palms To Be Replaced With This New Tree \u2014 For Now"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The city begins felling the first of 80 trees marked for removal on the North Shore. By\u00a0Thomas Heaton<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of Oahu\u2019s dead and dying coconut trees will not be replaced until the population of voracious coconut rhinoceros beetles is under control, the Honolulu parks department said Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of the trees will be replaced with shade trees for the foreseeable future \u2014 at least until authorities are able to better control the Southeast Asian beetles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not what we want to do, it\u2019s what we have to do,\u201d said urban forestry administrator Roxeanne Adams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The city began work Monday to cut down\u00a080 dying coconut palms<\/a>\u00a0between Haleiwa and Mokuleia on Oahu\u2019s North Shore. About 100 were already felled on the Leeward Coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
An arborist cuts a coconut tree for removal Monday. The trees were infested with beetles lodged in their trunks. (Kevin Fujii\/Civil Beat\/2024)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t like removing trees, especially trees like the coconut,\u201d Adams said. \u201cNot only is it the tree of life, it\u2019s culturally very, very important to our people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the invasive beetles have made the trees a public safety risk \u2014 their crowns could fall on people below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coconut rhinoceros beetles are particularly fond of feeding on coconut palm sap. They repeatedly bore into the hearts of the trees to feed, which kills the palms. They have also been known to target other plants, such as taro and bananas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trees felled on Monday were still infested, with several beetles lodged between layers in the palms\u2019 trunks. The average felled palm contained 20 to 30 beetles, Adams said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Researchers say replacing the trees with additional cocunut palms is possible, though it requires more management to keep the beetles at bay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
A coconut rhinoceros beetle is found in a felled coconut tree Monday at Kaiaka Bay Beach Park in Haleiwa. (Kevin Fujii\/Civil Beat\/2024)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want to save as many as we can. We just don\u2019t have the resources,\u201d Adams said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Planting shade trees \u2014 such as monkey pod or acacia \u2014 will contribute to the city\u2019s goal of increasing urban canopy cover by 35% by 2035, said parks department spokesman Nathan Serota.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Replanting coconut palms is not completely out of the question in some communities, so long as their residents are willing to help keep the beetles at bay, Adams said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leeward communities have stepped up already, she said, with the organization Niu Now managing several dwarf coconut palm varieties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Awa says he has been in talks with the city about further tree planting efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Experts forecast the Windward Coast will also start to show the symptoms of beetle infestation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a problem that\u2019s going to get worse on parts of Oahu,\u201d especially the Windward Coast and North Shore, said Keith Weiser, a deputy incident commander. \u201c<\/strong>People want to blame the city or the landowner but the management of CRB is regional.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The beetles can fly for up to 2 miles from nesting sites to feed on trees. Humans also transport the beetles, which nest in mulch, compost and green waste. A large nest can contain about 1,000 larvae, Weiser said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The city begins felling the first of 80 trees marked for removal on the North Shore. By\u00a0Thomas Heaton Most of Oahu\u2019s dead and dying coconut trees will not be replaced until the population of voracious coconut rhinoceros beetles is under control, the Honolulu parks department said Monday. Many of the trees will be replaced with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/waileaekahi.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/waileaekahi.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/waileaekahi.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/waileaekahi.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/waileaekahi.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=266"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/waileaekahi.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":267,"href":"https:\/\/waileaekahi.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266\/revisions\/267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/waileaekahi.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/waileaekahi.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/waileaekahi.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}