The overwhelming beauty of the lush forest of Hawaiʻi hides an unsettling truth. Of the nearly 1,400 native plants known in Hawaiʻi, more than 100 have gone extinct, and another 257 are in danger of extinction because of invasive species and climate change. Some of Hawaiʻi’s rarest plants survive only in small, isolated populations that rarely produce seeds in the wild, and their seeds are often not robust enough to survive conventional storage.

The University of Hawaiʻi’s Harold L. Lyon Arboretum is developing a space to counter these challenges by using an “inter-situ” approach, which balances natural habitat conditions with the protection of a botanical garden setting. A 10-year vision finally materializing, the project will protect 2.48 acres of habitat across two areas of the arboretum and will provide permanent space to cultivate 10 threatened and endangered plant species. This will allow the plants to grow to maturity, produce seeds, and be more readily monitored, studied, and maintained than many wild populations, while building a genetically diverse supply of seeds and cuttings for reintroduction.