Appendix:
Kaua‘i Strategies

1998 ERP Strategic Summary

The 1998 ERP summarized strategies for the specific needs of each of the conservation areas defined by the large native landscapes of each major island. The directives established then have largely been realized and continue to evolve. In 1998, there was no established TNC program on Kaua‘i, and the 1998 ERP recommended the following:

• Establish an active partnership with the State Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Kaua‘i County, and at least one of the four major private landowners (Alexander & Baldwin, Inc., Gay & Robinson, Inc., Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate, and JMB Amfac-Hawai‘i).  
• Empower this partnership to identify and co-fund a set of projects to 1) test the feasibility of preventing alien species damage in the most intact, remote parts of the site, 2) bring the best available stewardship to a set of smaller, high-diversity “hotspots” at lower elevations, and 3) engage the Kaua‘i community directly in the conservation of these places.  
• TNC should hire a project coordinator to live on Kaua‘i, to work most closely with the Kaua‘i DOFAW team and other local community contacts to develop the proposed partnership. 
• Expand our funding commitment based on the quality/feasibility of the plans that the partnership develops.  These plans may or may not include the acquisition of any land by TNC.

2007 Strategic Update

By the end of 2006, a growing Kaua‘i Program was established, realizing an on-island presence for TNC. A landscape watershed management partnership, called the Kaua‘i Watershed Alliance (KWA) was formed, comprised of major landowners, and the Kaua‘i County Board of Water Supply. 

TNC was contracted to draft a management plan for the partnership lands. This was completed in 2005 and includes geospatially explicit plans for areas of ungulate and weed control, the two critical threats. As part of a "Go Deep" intensive management effort, priority weeds are the current focus of active intervention.

TNC has also been contracted by the KWA to be the prime implementation contractor of its watershed management plan. Implementation has begun on the key elements of the plan, which are very closely aligned with the management needs of conservation targets identified in the Kaua‘i Conservation Area of our ecoregional portfolio, defined by a Conservation Action Plan (CAP) drafted for Kaua‘i.

In November 2007, TNC made a major land management agreement on Kaua‘i, establishing the 7,050 acre Wainiha Preserve in cooperation with A&B, which complements our earlier management agreement with them at Kanaele Bog, a low-elevation, high-diversity "hotspot." We are exploring other selected conservation easements and agreements.