Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle (CRB) Community Day

Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle (CRB) Community Day

The Community Coconut Program (of the Kaulunani Urban and Community Forestry Program within the Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Forestry and Wildlife), in partnership with the University of Hawaiʻi (UH) West Oʻahu and UH Mānoa, hosted the first-ever Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle (CRB) Community Day at the UH West Oʻahu campus on Thursday, September 24.

The event highlighted the important roles of community groups in managing, detecting, and controlling CRB to protect our beloved niu (coconut) and loulu (palm trees endemic to Hawaiʻi).

Over 100 community members, cultural practitioners, agricultural resource managers, tree-care workers, plant nursery and landscape workers, and researchers attended the event.

The Community Day capped off the third annual Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle Science and Management Symposium, which brought together researchers, CRB responders, and natural resources managers from Hawaiʻi, North America, and 20 Pacific Island countries and territories to share knowledge and coordinate response strategies.

The event included:

• Demonstrations on how to safeguard plants from CRB with mulch management, netting, and other measures.
• Discussions with local CRB responders, cultural practitioners, and researchers.
• Information booths from local organizations on CRB identification, management, and vulnerable plant preservation.

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Resources

Video: CRB Community Day (West Oahu, Sept. 24, 2026)

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/u74jewpbv42g7lz68ibrs/CRB-Community-Day-West-Oahu-Sept.-2026.mov?rlkey=3r13xr1yuppoh0gq9q9tfhmai&st=2ke708ao&dl=0

Photographs: CRB Community Day (Sept. 2026):

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/7o51lj8w5m8mvmssl99b3/AC957bwjk5kCjaKKQXw4-j0?rlkey=ewj2ugshpl3kfmkelj5s9hqws&st=hjwob289&dl=0