 Welcome to Healthy Planet, the show for people who care about their health and the health of our planet on the Think Tech Live Streaming Network series. I'm your host, Dr. Grace O'Neill. Joining me today is Tyrone Lanteri, President and Founder of Protect and Preserve Hawaii. Today we're going to talk about native Hawaiian plants. So let's get into it. Tell us about Protect and Preserve Hawaii, Tyrone. How you got started? Yeah. Yeah. So one day I was just walking to work, I saw a sign on the house and I was going to be up for auction. I went to that auction hoping to get some kind of rental property. I took out a loan against my house and then hoping for a rental property or a sweet condo. I ended up coming home with $330 acres of preservation land instead. Yeah, I didn't know what to do with it. I just thought it was a good opportunity to own that much land for me. So I definitely kind of freaked out. I started doing research and reaching out to organizations that dealt with large land acquisitions and then just familiarizing myself with the area. I started talking with the community and just hiking the area to figure things out. After all of that, it just seemed like the right thing to do is that I was meant to be its last year. So in 2019, we started Protect and Preserve Hawaii to do so. From there, we started doing research, COVID hit, the only funny thing that I did have is a rental apartment. I went to do some money for a low-key to keep going on. And then up to over 2020, we started our active restoration and our volunteer program. Since then, we've moved around to acres of invasive species and planted around 3,000 near point plots. So the initial plot of land, where was it? Yeah, so it's actually, it's called Pinot Valley. It's located at the side of the walk, which is actually behind Pinot Valley. You guys planted some plants there first and then you started going to other locations, as far as I understand as well. Yeah, you know, when I was thinking about what I was going to do with the property, you know, I wanted to get the most out of the natural resources and have it benefit the most amount of people. Once we started our volunteer program, because of COVID as well, there wasn't too many options for a lot of people. So we did get a lot of demand. Once our program started being successful, I wanted to help out other programs. So we started a volunteer exchange where we help with other projects or organizations with, you know, some of the work that they do, and also just to change it up a bit. And also a big bottleneck is just outreach. So I ended up having kind of a knack at it. So I started trying to help you outreach for other organizations. So how did you come up? Oh, go ahead. We also have a botanist that works because we actually live down the road from the valley. So he kind of has a personal connection. So we just, we try to check out other intact ecosystem around the island. We kind of dig deeply. We had to go on a hike and learn a little bit about the plants. How did you start getting interested in botany and native Hawaiian plants? Yeah, so the funny thing is that I'm actually an auto mechanic by tree. And before purchasing the property, I had no interest in plants or conservation. Yeah, so it was kind of out of necessity. You know, I wanted to research and just dive into this conservation thing. And it did help just having a lot of support from the community. Like like, there's like maybe like two botanists that actively help us out a lot. So that was a great help. Yeah, I mean, I'm wondering what kind of native Hawaiian plants are you planting out there? Because I don't really know a lot about native Hawaiian plants. Can you tell us a little bit about them? Yeah, of course. So I didn't either. So first thing I did is start hiking with my botanist. And we started surveying, which we call just researching areas that are still intact with a similar environment. And then we kind of chose which plants would naturally grow in that area, since it's so heavily degraded. So two of the main, I guess we would call it work, are species that we plant, which is called a hot bush. And ancient Hawaiians used it for spears and fence poles. But it's a very hardy plant that works really well to, what was that, compete against invasive haripura, which is one of the invasive species we do a lot here. The other one is really windy, which is known as the balsam, or kawaii, because it's a very, like, tickle word that Hawaiians would use it for, like, all rigors or surfboard or canoes. And then in both of those plants, we collect the seed from the next valley over. And pretty much all the plants that we grow and plant out is from the same area, so from Southern Kuala, just so that genetically that they're disposed to be in that area. And they have the best chance of survival. Yeah. Do you find that it's pretty easy to grow these plants from seed? Well, I had no experience, so I had, I went through a lot of trial and error, but we also offer propagation tutorials as well on our hikes. So we'll collect some seeds and then we'll give it to them in packets and some information. And they're actually fairly easy to grow because they're adapted to their climate grade. Yeah, that's great. I mean, so you're actually offering these to the public or how are volunteers or how does it work? Yeah. So we have five events a month and all of them are posted on our website. It's like then, sorry, presenters are hikers.org and there's like a mail in us for each one. But it's everything's open to the public. Yeah, I mean, I think that would be great to get other people planting things in their own yard because that would really help the situation. I mean, I see you have, I think I just saw an ohia there. Can you tell us a little bit about the ohia trees? Yeah, we have multiple ohias on our property as well. It's just got named as a trio of ohi or we're not familiar about that. It officially was July 1st was the official date. And that's actually the keystone species. That's one of the first pieces to come to that after lava flow. That's kind of the basis of the near point forest and how it regenerates. So we actually do, there's more growing plant, but it's definitely important. So we do all of that as well. We just work our species definitely go faster. And then we slowly strategically path and some of the other like more special species that take longer to grow. Now, I know there is that disease on the big island at least where a lot of the ohia is being essentially extinguished by I think an insect or something like that. I'm not sure what it is. But is that a problem here at all? Do you know? There's some very, there's a few small cases, but not as much. We have a wide variety of ohias. So we've been looking not to have just new controlled areas that happen. And then there's definitely a foreclosure. There's someone spots a tree that might have it. Then they'll try to try to keep going towards you in that area. Now, with the ohia, do they need a lot of water? Or what is their ideal situation? That's a hard one. I mean, a lot of the rural, I don't know what to say, fast, but ornamental, passive, general tend to do better up at the summit just because it's hard to get to. So, you know, a lot of these funders, foot traffic and a lot of risk. Yeah, that's a trampoline. Yeah. Well, we do have a few volat species of ohia on our top as well. So they can ruin climate. But they definitely thrive better towards the summit where it's, you know, a voice all the time. Yeah, but there's like a little mist over the lake. I've seen them up there on the mountain when I've been hiking. Like I can't remember what rigid is, but like at the top, I see a bunch of like little short ones. They're really short. But I've seen really tall ones on the big island, too. Like on the east side, they have very, very tall forests. But those are the ones that are struggling, unfortunately. How about kakooina? Is that a native land? So kakooina is actually, they call it kanu plants. So it was actually introduced by kanu or from the Polynesian. So it wasn't actually found here originally. Is that invasive or no? It's not invasive. It actually thrives well here and it has a lot of cultural values, but also a lot of people do use it in restoration. It makes a really good shape here as well. And then, of course, people use the wood and the seed. And how about you? You mentioned before the invasive species, the hallikoa. Do you know some of the history behind how it was brought here and everything? Yeah, so in our area, towards the drier area, you deal with a lot of hallikoa, as well as giving grass, that's part two name. I don't know if you call it enemies, but we deal with that a lot. From what we gathered, it was probably brought in for like, calligraphy or for livestock, you know, and at that time, the way you, you know, all walk. I mean, obviously, they grew up because it was just no maintenance, I grew fast, but they got out of hand. Now all over the highways, you'll see that. So, yeah, so we've been dealing with that a lot. The only real ways to get rid of the gingrass is to move by its roots. And then the hallikoa, we actually do like a cut stump method where we cut it close to the ground and then we use our herbicide and that control. Yeah, I mean, do you guys do any of that? Or when you're planting the native plants, try to kill the hallikoas first and then and then plant the native plants? Yep. So we actually leave some of the hallikoa behind, which strategically so it has shape for the seedlings. And then we remove some and then using the herbicide. As long as we're not too close to the stream, it should be fine. If we're closer to the stream, we'll do a different technique, but we'll just remove all the part. And the hallikoa, they're going to slowly die that way. Yeah. So with the herbicide, what are you using as herbicide? It's called Darnon. It's a professional herbicide. So we can probably go to like using the last few things so far. So, I mean, are you able to use like someone told me if you put oil in it, like cooking oil, sometimes that'll kill it? Oh, yes, the oil is kind of like a sort of fact that it kind of helps the herbicide penetrate the plant, but it just won't last. So I'm not sure I've ever tried that. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I heard some people like inject it in or something. I mean, and then someone else told me they use an aluminum can. They cut it down to the stump and then try to block out all the light. And then it'll die, but it's very hardy. Like I tried doing that. And if you just, you know, it'll the branches will grow around. And then once it gets a few leaves, it just takes off again. You know, it's a difficult situation. So tell me about, I know you said the two most common native plants, but what other plants are you? Oh, I don't know what science it is, but we plant like all the hay there. Also, okra, which is called white and plus related to the sunflower family, so it looks like a little sunflower. Oh, yeah, I've seen that. I think I've seen that growing. Small. Yeah, small. And then we do the vine. It's called a VQVG, has a little purple for almost the specific orchid. And then we started to like a whole planting. So we do like grasses too. So like PV grass, the carrots. And the reason for our own. Is that ecosystem has to be complete. You just can't have all the tree trees or just all grass. If you want that watershed to work correctly, so it's water. So we try to plant round cover shrubs and shape trees. Yeah. We also plant long male. Let's see. And then like a round cover kind of shrubs can model, which is the white cotton and actually has the balls of cotton on them as well. I think I've seen that too. Like it was kind of does it look like a bush or sometimes yeah, yeah. Because I've seen I've walked by it just it was at a house and then we picked it up. We're like, oh, it's cotton. Man, I don't know if anybody ever uses the cotton, but they look like little cotton balls. So yeah. What else was I going to say? So I'm also these plants are they planted like you plant the season, then you wait until there is certain size before you put them in the ground, like leave them somewhere else and let them form little seedlings before you put them in. Like, what have you found is the most successful way to plant these native plants? Yeah, definitely. At first, we were getting a lot of impacts from the native plant nursery. We moved to Malibu, Ola and then, you know, just. Just before crafts, I started trying to go in at home and now my house turned into a greenhouse. We got kind of carried away. And then my other projects, I have at least 2,000 plants going. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. But as far as seedlings go, I guess on an average of 12 to 14 inches, as far as like what height you want it to out plant it. It's usually when the seedling, the bark will start to kind of show like more woody around the stump and so that greenish color. Yeah. And then they call it parting and off. So we'll slowly stop watering it as often so we can kind of have a look out when we start coming out. And then from there, it's kind of survival of the fence. We don't really believe your plants. We'll plant it and we'll put water. But after that, we don't go back in water. We just don't. Oh, you don't. Yeah, I mean, well, I guess they're native, so we think that they would be. Yeah. And that kind of environment. Yeah. Sorry. I'm going to go 80 percent. Success. Yeah, that's pretty good. I mean, with the volunteers, like what kind of are they mostly doing the planting? Are they like, I'm assuming they're cutting some of the invasive species to what kind of volunteer opportunities do you have for people? Yeah. So for the restoration of opportunities, you know, we kind of strategically do it. So the first event that's open to the public will learn about the area of biodiversity, water sheds, and then what's invasive and what's not. And then we'll remove, gain grass and kind of prep the area and then the water pool. And then from there, you've got it. And it's a minute with the area. Then I'll have a special invite to our planting event. So it's separate. Yeah. So when they plant, they actually, you know, they want to be there and they take more care to actually make sure the tree is going to be planted correctly. And then we still do a tutorial before we actually do the planting and then we actually practice trees. Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, I've seen, you know, what I've been hiking in Kulio, kind of near the valley. I've seen some plants and I don't know if those are yours or they're just like the park planted them. I mean, I'm assuming the park does some restoration, but I don't really know. Yeah. So Kulio, just recently, they have a, you, I guess, they call it like an organization that's dedicated to restore that area. They're called the Oroa Tree Alliance, which we're obviously neighbors. So I made my plan to send you each other through other organizations. So we share resources to help each other out. Yeah. They recently got a grant with the state for Kulio Danani and they're actually doing all the planting as well as trying to stop the erosion and, you know, kind of put signs to what people are trying to cross through the trail. Yeah. Yeah. They're also called the Oroa Tree Alliance. Yeah. To a group of people. Yeah. And then I also have, I mean, I'm just wondering with the other invasive species, what other invasive species are a real problem for these native plants? Um, there's there's a bunch, but definitely strawberry guava is like. Oh, yes. Yeah. Because people eat them on the trail and they throw them on the ground. Yeah. And birds don't eat them, so it's very easily spread. And it's very gasp, really. That would be like our next, I mean, as we move deeper into the forest, it's our restoration area. It's between that and Christmas Berry. But strawberry guava is definitely a big problem because it grows so fast. Yeah. The state just released a biocontrol. Biocontrol being that is a biological control agent, which is it's a little insect that digs itself into the leaves. From there, it will slow down the growth of the plant. So that's been released recently. So a year ago, hiking, you'll see these long balls, but it kind of looks like a little pimple on top of the tree. That's how you know that the biocontrol is inside of that plant. Now, I wonder if that's going to do harm to the other parts of the ecosystem, though, because they're always kind of releasing these controls. But, you know, they don't know what else. Yeah, for sure. Because what other effects it could have, right? I mean, it makes me wonder, but how about like the mountain apple? Like, is that a problem to you? I mean, just things that you eat when hiking and you throw out. They actually have a native Hawaiian apple. You know, and then, but they're not in Vista. So in Vista, pretty much means like it's not only does it grow in a fast rate, but it also takes over the resources of all the other plants and all the pieces. Yeah, so, yeah, like mango and mountain apple and what kind of fire they're not in Vista. Yeah, yeah, they this you kind of have to give them some care for them or avocados, you know, right? Yeah, the other problem in Vista sometimes is just the leaf litter, like like strawberry guava, like it leaves so much leaf litter. It'll, you know, cheat out all of a sudden from all of the past is going to go on your, uh, yeah. I mean, that's too bad. Like now that I'm more cognizant of the strawberry guava, I mean, I kind of knew it wasn't native, but I admit that I've had some on the hike and then just like, you know, just thrown it on the ground. And right. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, and there's, you know, people grow them at their houses too, right? But it's a very nice maintenance freak. Yeah. It's very delicious, I guess. Yeah. So that's too bad. And then I saw there was one picture by the street. Can you show the picture about the ocean or the stream, Michael? Can you tell us a little bit about that, what you guys are doing there? I thought that was kind of interesting. And you're talking about the wall. Yeah. So one day we wanted to start with all of which is made of wine, or with, you know, urban food. But then we're like, oh, it's kind of close to the stream. So I followed this one kumo, his name is Kimi Onakai. He does guava, which is the one part of dry stacking of rocks for the wall. You know, it's what they use for hails and also tell the time and other things. So I reached out to him and he was like, I was like, oh, would you mind helping us build a small wall for our garden? He said, I'll do one better. You know, I'll teach you guys how to do it. Yeah, from there, it's kind of spurred off. Now, we once a month, every last Sunday of the month, yeah, we actually have a class now. I did that. So that's kind of our way of perpetuating a wider culture, you know, in that area. And he's gracefully enough to volunteer his time to come out. So it's open. Same thing to everyone as well as any skill level. So beginners as well. Oh, that's great. Yeah, it's like practical knowledge. Ah, and I'm also kind of curious. It's a random question, but I've seen some like taro. Sometimes when I'm hiking at the bottom of the trail, like, is somebody growing those? Are those I mean, I'm assuming they're not. They're definitely not invasive because they take some work. Tarot and I know it's a canoe plant, but who is growing those taro on the trail? You have any idea? Good question. Sometimes we're just growing, actually. I mean, there is a definite structure, like there's a structure, you know, like you can tell someone did it and maybe someone just put it out there and they just thought, oh, it can perpetuate itself here. So I'm just going to put it out there. Is that something that keeps us true? No, I think this was maybe around Culea. I can't remember. We've been in so many different trails. It's hard to get along with it. Yeah, it was very nicely built, like, you know, how it likes water. So the water was up and you could see like multiple taro plants kind of in a row. Very nice. Is that terracing? Yeah. Yeah, I'm sure it's probably somebody that's spraying on themselves or like a small project. I mean, how do you, like now are you going to try to acquire more land for your program or are you just kind of helping out other organizations with similar interests? I guess it's hard because you have to raise enough money to acquire land. But I think that's a great idea to try to acquire land and try to just leave it the way nature wants to be. I mean, that's really what we should be doing. Yeah, you know, there's a lot of opportunities as well with the state as they call it conservation events. So if you're, if anybody's ever interested in acquiring a large portion of land, there are opportunities with land trust so that they'll help you purchase the land with the agreement that it's going to be for conservation. The way it is, yeah, that's helpful. Because I think I wish more people would do that instead of building something on it or, you know. Right. I mean, I'm wondering where is most of the land, though? Is it mostly by the hiking trails that they have this land? It's all over, but definitely there's a lot in the full-out area on the hiking trails. So it's privately owned. And, you know, there's some that's owned by those people. Yeah, yeah, I think that's great. So I guess, like, you know, we're going to have to wrap it up soon. Why don't you tell us about how people can find you in your organization and, you know, how they can find out about volunteer opportunities and learn more about native Hawaiian plants and everything? Yeah, so we have five events a month. Two being on site during Restoration Mark. And then one doing cultural, which is Mojago-Bahaku, which is also a field valley. Then we have two events that go on around the island. One being Nature Heights, guide of our partners, writing about, you know, intact ecosystems. And then we also do a volunteer exchange program and we help other people around their organizations as well as their programs. And you can also find us at protectpreservehi.org. But overall, no, we're just trying to spread awareness and community engagement, just breaking people out of their social norms and trying to understand what's going on around the island. But yeah, and then you can also grow very actively on Instagram, protect and preserve Hawaii. OK, so we're out of time now, so we're going to have to wrap it up. But I'm Dr. Grace O'Neill. This is Healthy Planet on the ThinkTech Live Streaming Network series. We've been talking with Tyrone Monteri of Protect and Preserve Hawaii. Thanks to all of you for being here. Thanks to Michael, our broadcast engineer, and the rest of our crew at ThinkTech for this year. And thanks to you, our listeners, for listening. I'll see you on July at the end of the month for more of Healthy Planet on ThinkTech, the show for people who care about their health and the health of our planet. Our next show will be featuring William Cumic, vegan chef. We will be talking about her new projects. If you have ideas for the show, please contact me at Healthy Planet ThinkTech at gmail.com. Check out my website at graceandhawaii.com for more information on my projects, including future show guests. I'm Dr. Grace O'Neill, Aloha everyone.