By Kimberly Shay, 23rd September 2025
The Hawaiian Islands are home to some of the most unique and diverse ecosystems on our planet. Yet these ecosystems and their plants face a multitude of threats including climate change, wildfires, pests and pathogens, competition from non-native species, loss of mutualists, loss of habitat to development, and other human activities. Hundreds of plant species native to Hawaii are in danger of extinction; 30 of the most rare and endangered are now Extinct in the Wild, such as the succulent Brighamia insignis and the shrub Kanaloa kahoolawensis.
Hope comes in the form of Laukahi: The Hawai‘i Plant Conservation Network, a nonprofit organization that coordinates a voluntary alliance of agencies, organizations and individuals dedicated to protecting native plant species in Hawai‘i. Laukahi translates from Hawaiian to English as ‘leaf’, ‘single’, ‘many’ and ‘together’, which is why we represent our Network’s collective efforts as every leaf together. Our vision is that by working together, we can secure the future of our irreplaceable plants.
Laukahi kuahiwi, known scientifically as Plantago princeps, is one of the 868 Species of Conservation Importance. It is endemic to Hawaii and grows in moist forested habitats, sometimes on steep cliffs and near waterfalls. The words ‘lau’ and ‘kahi’ translate from Hawaiian to English as ‘leaf’, ‘single’, ‘many’ and ‘together’, which is why we represent our Network’s collective efforts as every leaf together. Photo: Plant Extinction Prevention Program.
Approximately 90% of our 1,376 native plants are endemic to Hawaiʻi, meaning they are not found anywhere else in the world: they are unique in every sense. In 2023, According to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, around 45% (629 species and subspecies) of Hawaiʻi’s plants are categorized as threatened, and hundreds more still need to be assessed. That means more than half of Hawaiʻi’s native plants either are or could be at serious risk of extinction. Even more alarming is the fact that among the islands’ threatened plants there are 268 species with fewer than 50 individuals in the wild. They are managed by the Hawai‘i Plant Extinction Prevention Program, yet safeguarding them for the future remains a significant challenge.
One approach is ex situ conservation, where species are protected in managed collections outside their natural habitats. There are numerous threats to plants in the wild, and these are often not easily addressed where the plants occur naturally, so these collections provide a vital safety net for preventing extinction and enabling species recovery. A first step in designing an effective conservation programme based on ex situ collections is to find out what there is, and where. So, to determine how well native Hawaiian plants are represented in conservation collections, Laukahi completed a gap assessment in 2023. We focused on 868 Species of Conservation Importance (SCI), which include not only endangered plants but also ecologically and culturally important species. Fifty-two facilities from 32 organizations provided an inventory of the plants in their care, and we assessed around 70,000 records in total.
The outcome of this effort was a unique and incredibly valuable species-specific dataset including the estimated genetic diversity of each species within the collections. When this information is paired with other datasets, it guides and informs conservationists so that their actions are efficient and effective. To serve our Network and their needs, we matched the genetic diversity information with the conservation status of each species, their distribution across the Hawaiian Islands, the estimated population size and the relevant information from the Hawaiʻi Seed Bank User’s Guide. This overview helps conservation professionals identify which species, populations and individuals remain to be secured, along with what plant material should be collected, based on their ex situ storage behaviour reported in the User’s Guide. For example, the seeds of some species’ seeds cannot tolerate the drying and storage at the low temperatures of a seed bank (such as recalcitrant and intermediate seeds), so sending their seeds there would be a waste of time and plant material. This is essential information for planning future field collections.
The Laukahi Network is an alliance: cooperating, collaborating and supporting each other is the foundation of our work and the key to our future success in protecting and conserving Hawaiian plants. To help us understand the challenges facing our Network partners in their day-to-day work and the practical steps needed for the recovery of particular species, we visited some of our partners’ labs, greenhouses, botanical gardens, seed banks and field sites across the Hawaiian Islands. Our conversations during these site visits were incredibly helpful and touched on the biggest challenges faced by our partners, as well as what Laukahi can do for its partners and, of course, included sharing excitement over plant success stories. We reinforced our relationships across the Network and were reminded time and time again that collaboration is key: it is only through a strong Network that we can protect our plants.
Different types of conservation collections assessed, clockwise from top right: greenhouses, botanical gardens, micropropagation labs and seed banks. Photos: Kim Shay.
The great news is that 85% of the priority Species of Conservation Importance are represented in conservation collections, which includes all of Hawaiʻi’s rare plants, and other ecologically and culturally important species. This exceeds the worldwide goal of 75% outlined in the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation, a framework adopted by the Convention on Biological Diversity to encourage the plant conservation community to take action for the world’s plants and to prevent extinctions. Using the same ranking method as earlier assessments to quantify the proportion of unique individuals represented in the collections, we found that the genetic diversity of each species at each institution has improved compared to an earlier study from 2012 and unpublished data from 2020. This result should be celebrated, because it demonstrates not only that ex situ conservation is effective in securing the diversity of each species but also that the Network partners share the same strong conservation priorities.
The Network’s efforts extend far beyond ex situ conservation. Laukahi is responsible for implementing the Hawaiʻi Strategy for Plant Conservation, which is adapted from the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation. Both the Hawaiʻi Strategy for Plant Conservation and Laukahi emerged from a statewide ex situ capacity assessment in 2012, calling for coordination across Hawaiʻi. The Laukahi Network was established to support and strengthen partnerships to implement the Strategy. The Strategy itself consists of 20 targets that align our work with global conservation goals, including: 1) Understanding plant diversity, 2) Conserving plant diversity, 3) Building capacity to implement the Strategy, 4) Engaging the public through education and outreach, and 5) Supporting sustainable use and traditional knowledge of plants. Our 2023 review allowed us to monitor progress and delve deeper to understand the factors driving change. Our Conservation News update in Oryx shares some of the findings from this work, highlighting our progress under the Strategy and reflecting the Network’s many contributions. It is clear how well the conservation priorities of our Network members are aligned, and we are optimistic for the future of Hawaiʻi’s wonderful plants: together, we can prevent extinction and support species recovery.
Photo collage showing Laukahi Network members.
Laukahi is a dedicated alliance of passionate botanists and conservationists. Our community shares successes and challenges and, through our partnerships, we aim to create solutions together and support each other. As the Network Coordinator, it brings me great joy to share our aloha for plants. We all work as one, every leaf together, to protect our unique botanical heritage. You can help protect Hawaiian plants by donating here.
The Conservation News item ‘Laukahi Network completes ex situ gap analysis of Hawaiian plants’ is available open access in Oryx—The International Journal of Conservation.
