HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A one-year ban is now in effect on all shipments of plants, gravel and other gardening materials to Molokai.
It comes after the state board of the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity (DAB) on Tuesday approved a community-led petition to keep the last island free from the invasive coconut rhinoceros beetle (CRB).
As the CRB devastates palms and farms across the state, Molokai residents and their supporters say the ban is needed, after state efforts failed to contain the spread of the beetles.
After two hours of testimony and discussion, board members voted unanimously to prohibit shipments of any potential CRB host material to Molokai, including plants, soil, compost, wood or tree chips, and mulch.
What makes the ban historic is how wide reaching it is — including construction materials not traditionally regulated, like gravel and erosion control socks.
Some residents noted Molokai can sustain itself with its own gravel and plants, and can eventually serve as a resource for the rest of the state.
“We just got to tell everybody no and just be willing to accept the initial blowback potentially like, oh, I didn’t know and now we can’t ship it and I already bought it and I can’t return it. So we’re going to have to kind of deal with some of that in the beginning,” said Jonathan Ho, DAB’s plant quarantine branch manager.
The branch suggested a less restrictive rule that would allow some materials with a permit.
“You don’t want to have not thought about it and create a restriction and then now you’ve all of this action that you now need to either fix or you create all this hardship,” Ho said.
But many residents felt that hasn’t worked so far. Ultimately, the board approved the most restrictive rule to give the state time to stop the spread of CRB.
Now the state says it’s educating Young Brothers and other shippers about the rule and fines, which range from $100 to $10,000 depending on the severity of the violation.
In a statement, Young Brothers said it is “committed to working with the state and our customers to prevent the spread of the invasive coconut rhinoceros beetle to Molokai. All agricultural shipments must first be cleared by the Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture before being transported to their destination.”
Farmers Kunani and Ipo Nihipali of Niu Now Molokai led the push for the ban to protect Molokai’s unique niu species, including King Kamehameha V’s historic coconut grove.
“There are going to be some unhappy people, but at the same time, it’s a protection that has been failing on the part of the state for 12 years and all of the resources that they’ve had, not to accuse anyone, but that’s basically they’ve had it in their courts. And we now have an opportunity to be able to take this in our own way of approach,” Kunani Nihipali said.
They also hope the ban will help grow the island’s economy.
“We need for businesses to understand on a positive level that you can come and try to help us to enhance those businesses, to create the remediation material, the fertilizers, and the types of material that Molokai would need,” he added.
Enforcing the ban could be tricky.
“So many uses for gravel, the construction, airports, public spaces, roads. It’s going to be tough,” said state agriculture director Sharon Hurd during the meeting.
But residents say they’re used to policing themselves.
Ho says cut flowers and foliage for decoration, including Christmas trees, are exempt from the ban. He adds CRBs are not an issue in Washington and Oregon, where those trees come from.
“Those trees are going to be inspected on Oahu and then are going to be placed back into sealed shipping containers and shipped to Molokai,” Ho said.
Even then, Nihipali says why take any risk.
“We can do this if we lokahi, bring everybody together to understand that this is not a detriment. It is a plus for us as Molokai residents and survivors.”
Report CRB sightings by calling or texting the pest hotline at 808-643-PEST (7378) or submit a report online at 643pest.org. Find more information at crbhawaii.org.
Copyright 2025 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
Comments are closed.