Hawaii is allocating $350,000 in federal COVID-19 funds to rescue valuable pastureland from a pest called the spittlebug.
It's one of many battles the nonprofit organization Big Island Invasive Species Committee (BIISC) has been waging to help preserve local resources and protect farmers. From fire ants to rabbits to beetles, the list of invasive plants and species on the island is long.
"The Big Island Invasive Species Committee (BIISC) is a project of the University of Hawaii Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit. The committee is a voluntary partnership of government, private and nonprofit organizations, and concerned individuals working to address invasive species issues on the island of Hawaii. We work island-wide protecting our native forests, communities and agriculture from new and ongoing threats," the group said on its website.
Since the spittlebug appeared in South Kona in 2016, it’s destroyed 175,000 acres of pasture, West Hawaii Today reported.
The federal rescue funds appropriated by the Hawaii Legislature will help compensate cattle farmers for their losses and conduct research on how to fight the invasive insect.
“Hawaii’s food sustainability and resiliency depends on our ability to produce nutritious, affordable, healthy protein,” Hawaii Cattlemen’s Council Managing Director Nicole Galase told West Hawaii Today.
The spittlebug has been contained in Kona but is now spreading to North and South Kohala, home to Parker Ranch, one of the largest private ranches in the U.S. The insect can also cause erosion.
“If all of a sudden all these grasses disappear and you have nothing but bare ground or weeds, and all of a sudden you have flooding issues, you have soil retention issues,” Keith Unger, manager of McCandless Ranch, told West Hawaii Today.
Spittlebugs are native to the Southeastern U.S. They "feed by sucking nutrients and fluids from the plant stem, weakening and potentially killing the grass,” according to the BIISC.
When spittlebugs destroy grass, invasive plants such as pamakani, fireweed and wild blackberry begin to take over.
“The loss of grass and surge of weeds have been devastating to upper-elevation pastures in Kona, which have not recovered from the damage,” the organization said.
The insect is destroying approximately 35,000 acres of pastureland on Big Island each year, according to West Hawaii Today.
“Researchers are extremely worried that the spittlebug could be transported to the iconic pastures of Kohala and Hamakua,” the BIISC said. “Kikuyu grass is the primary forage in many of these places, and a (spittlebug) introduction could devastate the cattle industry and significantly change the character of the landscape.”
The BIISC focuses on increasing public awareness of invasive species and pests.
"In recent years, as invasive species have become a more pressing issue for many residents and homeowners in Hawaii, we have taken more of a role in outreach, education and community empowerment for handling invasive pests," the organization said. The BIISC offers educational events, presentations, hands-on activities, teacher training and curricula.