The two bird species added to the endangered species list are both Hawaiian honeycreepers – the akekee (Kauai akepa) and the akikiki (Kauai creeper). The akekee population dropped from 8,000 birds in 2000 to 3,500 birds by 2007. The akikiki population has declined even further, by about 80 percent in the last 40 years, to approximately 1,300 birds in 2007. These two species join 33 other Hawaiian bird species listed as endangered and another listed as threatened. Photo of the akekee by Jack Jeffrey.

Hawaii is inhabited by 111 species of picture-wing flies with colorful wing patterns and intricate mating rituals that evolved from a single female that migrated from the mainland some five million years ago. Drosophila sharpi is a large species of Hawaiian picture-wing fly found in Kauai’s wet forests, and joins 12 other Hawaiian picture-wing flies on the endangered species list.

The 45 plant species now listed as endangered include ferns, vines, shrubs and trees found nowhere else in the world. Twenty-three of the plant species have fewer than 50 individuals remaining in the wild, and some have not been seen for several years, although they are still believed to exist in remote areas. One fern, Diellia manii, was thought to be extinct since the early 1900s, but a single individual was rediscovered in 2002 at Kokee State Park. The addition of these plant species to the endangered species list brings the total number of endangered Hawaiian plants to 309, and another 10 are considered threatened.

The one species that will not receive critical habitat is being excluded for its own protection. Critical habitat for the plant Pritchardia hardyi (loulu) was determined not to be prudent because biologist believe a designation for this rare palm could alert collectors to its location.

There are many ways to cool down your Kauai home without AC to save you energy and money. With all the bright sunshine we get in Hawaii, cooling your home can be a energy hogging task if you use air conditioning.

Under the sun, a roof can reach 150 degrees fahrenheit or more (even when it’s only 80 degrees outside) and transfer heat into your living space. Keeping the heat out of your home is essential to making your home energy efficient. Radiant barriers are thin sheets of reflective material installed in the roof, ceiling, or walls that reduce the transfer of heat and can reflect up to 85 percent of the sun’s heat.

Installing attic insulation will absorb heat passing into the home through the roof. Insulation can reduce ceiling temperatures by more than 15 degrees making you more comfortable in your home.

Hot air can get trapped in your attic and keep your house warmer than necessary. A ridge vent located at the highest point of your roof uses the low pressure created by wind traveling across your roof to suck out the hot air. Ridge vents should be combined with an eave vent or a soffit vent (located at the lowest part of your roof) so that fresh air can be let into the attic to replace the hot air.

Solar-powered attic fans use clean, free energy from the sun to draw out the hot air and reduce attic temperature by as much as 40 degrees.

The easiest way for direct hot daylight to enter your house is through your windows. The best strategy to cool your home is shading. You can try overhangs, awnings, or trees to shade your windows that face the sun during the day. Inside drapes, blinds, or tinting can also help block out the sun’s rays.

Trade winds blow about 90% of the time in summer and about 50% of the time in the winter, so by opening the windows you can harness that energy and let your home cool using natural resources. The further apart the open windows are (opposite corners of the house) the more efficient the wind will be in cooling your home.

Ceiling fans can also create a gentle breeze that can take over comfort duties when the wind quits. Using an Energy Star ceiling fan instead of a typical room air conditioner can save about $446 per year.

TakePart is a content-driven social action network driving citizen engagement, social action, and positive change on big issues like clean water, education reform, and environmental protection. This program encourages everyone to do their part by providing numerous ways to get involved in worthy causes, whether it’s volunteering for a local organization, making a donation, or voting for a charity to receive additional funding. TakePart is driven by the idea that a good story well told can inspire people to take small steps that drive big changes.

At TakePart.com you can explore today’s issues and decide for yourself where and how you would like to take action. You can vote to help decide which charities will receive funding. And every three months, five charities will be chosen to receive $200,000 each. There are dozens of worthy causes among a diverse group of categories like Arts & Culture, Community Development, Environment & Wildlife, Education, and Health & Wellness. You can also find the right volunteer opportunity for both your heart and your schedule through Volunteer Match. This program is designed to match volunteers with opportunities that meet their interests and availability and reward them for their time.

The website currently highlights five young women who prove that age is not a barrier in making a difference. From magic soccer balls that can power towns to an orphanage in Nepal that is saving lives, the projects from these young women inspire a whole new faith in the upcoming generation. Getting involved in something you feel passionate about is critical to making a positive impact in the world. TakePart will help inform, inspire, and activate you with tools to really make a difference.

In Hawaii, humpback whales typically belong to groups consisting of two to three individuals for relatively short periods of time. The longest association between individual whales is when the mother cow, remains with her calf for a year during nursing. The mother generally never lets her calf stray more than a body length away for very long. They spend the first year or so of the calf’s life together, and the calf learns valuable survival lessons in this short amount of time, and is then weaned and separated. In many instances, cow and calf are accompanied by another adult known as an escort. Escorts can be of either sex, but are most often reported to be males, and remain with them for only a short time. Usually, a female humpback will bear one calf every two or three years, with an average life span between 40 and 50 years.

Families would grow their own wauke (paper mulberry) for their use. Tended by both men and women, wauke was grown around the lo`i (taro pond) and nurtured to grow straight and tall. The optimal trees for making fine kapa were from eight to twelve feet tall, and harvested when they are about one to two inches in diameter before they were two years old. As the wauke tree grew, planters cut off the side branches, so a straight trunk stalk without branch holes could later be stripped. Two of the varieties grown in Hawaii that make good kapa are called Laumana or Manalima. Laumana has a straighter growing habit that requires less attention while the Poa’aha tends to produce more branches.

After the trees were harvested, the outer skin (‘ili) was stripped within a few days otherwise it was difficult to remove. Traditionally Hawaiians used various shell implements to scrap away the layers of outer bark which consists of the rough brown bark, a layer of dark green, and pale green beneath. The inner bark fibers, called bast, were then soaked in running water, such as a high tide pool to break down the woody fibers and wash away the starch. More soakings and fermentation followed, resulting in a felted, matted, seamless mass, but leaving the fibers still tough and resilient when finally removed from the waters. At this time in the process, the women of Hawaii would often twist cordage out of the fibers, for use as fish nets (upena) and as carrying nets (koko) from which to hang calabashes of wood and gourds.

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to be continued…