KIAʻI MOKU : Introduction to the series

Aloha E Nā Hoa!

Kauaʻi Invasive Species Committee (KISC) has partnered with Work it out Kauaʻi to bring you a collaboration full of information. This five-part series was created as an avant garde way to spread awareness of the work of KISC and some of the invasive threats on our island and how the community can help reduce the spread of invasive species. This is a non-profit project under the UH Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit.

Over the last 20 years, the KISC team has worked tirelessly to protect the island from some formidable invaders. Some major target species they have been able to contain are Little Fire Ant, Miconia, and have kept Kauaʻi Coqui and mongoose free.  

Work it out is a small local business in Kapaʻa. Owner Jeni and her sister Jasmine were born and raised on Kauaʻi, growing up enjoying the beautiful ʻāina, which shaped them into the people they are today. As Kamaʻāina, Jeni and Jasmine value the importance of community partnership and using their platform as a brand to bring awareness to issues that affect us all. They are lovers of native plants, and with that love comes a responsibility to shed light on how we can all help protect them.

This collaboration aims to bring awareness to invasive species on our island, stop the spread of invasives, as well shed light on how to report invasives. This is done through the creative lens of styling and incorporating visuals connected to KISC target species. Each photoshoot is accompanied by a blog post about the featured target species, its impacts, and its status on Kauaʻi. Throughout  this campaign, our goal is to empower and educate our community about how they can do their part to report and reduce the spread of invasive species in their daily lives.