Hawaii Wildlife Fund turns 20 in March 2016!

Hawaii Wildlife Fund (HWF) would like to thank the thousands of individuals who have contributed to our efforts over the past 20 years. Since we are community-driven and volunteer-powered, we owe our success to you.

HWF is headed into the new year stronger than ever, with the structural support of 'The Performance Imperative' developed by the Leap of Reason Ambassadors Community for high-performance organizations. We were introduced to this framework by one of our key funders, Hawaii Community Foundation, during its Leadership Conference last May. HWF ha a new Board of Directors, and our original co-founders, Bill Gilmartin and Hannah Bernard, are initiating Hawaii's next generation of conservationists into our work.

During our first 20 years, HWF has saved thousands of endangered hawksbill (honu'ea) sea turtle hatchlings, protected hundreds of threatened green (honu) sea turtles, recovered miles of sensitive habitat by removing two hundred tons of marine debris, restored coastal native wildlife habitat, hosted five symposia, trained hundreds of marine naturalists and interns, assisted in setting national and international marine conservation policy and educated more than a million people ... and so much more!

We look forward to an action-packed year and hope that you can join us in one of our projects and celebration events to continue our legacy. > Follow Us on Facebook

The following are a few highlights of how Hawaii Wildlife Fund made a difference during 2014:

• Hosted 37 beach cleanup events with 833 participants, removing 13 tons of marine debris from Maui and Hawaii


• Conducted 8 restoration workdays, removing sediment and invasive plants from around anchialine pools and an estuary on Hawaii Island


• Monitored and protected 15 green and hawksbill sea turtle nests, a record number for Maui, and discovered 4 successful hawksbill nests on Molokai


• Piloted a marine debris keiki (children’s) education & outreach program in 2 elementary schools on Hawaii Island, will launch in another 18 schools soon


• Began our estuary restoration project meeting and planning work efforts with local stakeholders and conducted baseline biological surveys


• Presented at two int'l symposiums in Canada and Japan about our statewide cleanup efforts and tsunami debris items found in Hawaii with our neighbors across the Pacific


• Set up booths at Earth Day and Ocean Day events and gave public presentations to share our conservation work with island residents and visitors


• Hosted youth groups and volunteer travel groups with new partner, Bluecology


• Planned an ecotourism trip to Palau, Yap & Ulithi to be managed by Hannah in Spring 2015 ~ Join us!


• Continued our Ho'okuleana (to take responsibility) Honu Watch Project to protect green sea turtles that bask on Maui's shores, plus mitigated disturbances, educated more than 42,000 visitors and residents and conducted valuable research


• Untangled numerous green and hawksbill turtles from derelict hooks and fishing line


• Monitored green turtles with fibropapillomatosis, and began discussions with local groups about creating a much-needed turtle hospital on Maui


• Hosted a record number of 16 student interns on Maui and 1 int’l intern for six months on Hawaii Island


• Established an ongoing partnership with Method cleaning products to recycle some of the plastics collected during cleanup events on both Maui and Hawaii


• Filed and won a Clean Water Act lawsuit with three other plaintiffs against Maui County for fecal pollution in nearshore waters at Kaanapali


• Formed a grass-roots "Styrofree Hawaii" movement to reduce the usage of EPS foam take-out containers at local restaurants and food establishments