What Can We Do? (Q6)

Currently, the federal government is regulating the interactions of human beings with the tropical dry forests of Hawaii. The organizations that are in charge of this regulation lack adequate funding. One of the main solutions to this issue would be to provide funding to these federal organizations so that they can prevent the destruction of the tropical dry forests in Hawaii. There are federal agencies that are conducting restoration on military land. These projects should be expanded to span all environmental areas within Hawaii that need to be restored to their previous state. Agencies that belong to the state are in charge of the Natural Area Reserve System, a system that also focuses on restoration, but on a larger level. In order to keep this system active and facilitate its expansion, more funding should be provided to it. Funding can also be provided to NGOs that handle restoration projects (Pau, 2013).

The main issue with the restoration of the Hawaiian Tropical Dry Forests is the lack of funding. Therefore, in order to protect these forests, more funding should be provided to federal, state, and non-governmental organizations and agencies so that they can continue to work on their projects, and eventually expand to other areas of focus(Pau, 2013).

Funding can also be used to promote more research on this issue. Research can uncover new, more effective restoration methods, that would help improve the restoration effort. Ecotourism is a great way to increase the awareness of the critical state of Hawaii's tropical dry forests. As people travel to this region, they can learn about the detrimental impacts of human beings. Through educating these tourists about the issue, the tourists can get involved and aid organizations that work to protect these forests(Gillespie 2013).

A great way to revert back to the previous state of the forest is to take the sediment cores from the bottom of lakes and observe them at laboratories in order to find out the composition of the dry forests as they were years before human invasions. After doing this, the native endangered species can be replanted in order to restore the environment to its original composition. Fencing can also be implemented in order to protect native species of plants from the non-native species, while also separating them from one another and protecting the native species from fires(Gillespie 2013).

Here we can clearly see the positive effect fencing has had on the preservation of a tropical dry forest fragment located in Auwahi, Maui.

Sources:

"Maui Image Gallery." Hawaii Association of Watershed 

     Partnerships. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2013.

Pau, Stepanie. "Tropical Dry Forests of the Pacific - Hawaii." 
     Tropical Dry Forests of the Pacific Hawaii. N.p., n.d. Web.      19 Nov. 2013.

Gillespie, Thomas. "People and the Earth's Ecosystem." Dodd 147, Los Angeles. 29 Oct. 2013. Class Lecture.