According to the city officials, Urban Hono Lulu has become more obvious in connection with the palm tree-sensitive coconut-rhinoceros beetle.
The latest plantings in new private construction developments in Kakaako and Ala Moana show the traith down signs of CRB infestation borholes 2 inches or larger in palm trunks, V-shaped or flawless palm fronds and generally unhealthy-looking trees as a whole.
CRB breeding populations are also discovered along the palm-rich corridor, which extends from the Iolani Palace to the Diamond head crater, the Ministry of City for Planning and Approval.
To combat the problem, DPP says that it strengthens the efforts to maintain the health of the urban landscapes of the island.
“The DPP is worried about CRB for many reasons, but above all we are concerned about the potential quick loss of palm trees in our community forest and the associated security risks that fall unexpectedly from damaged or dead palm trees,” said Alexander Beatty of DPPS Urban Design Branch, the Honolulu Star-Advertister.
The main focus of the department is on the new development and the exchange of landscapes, he said.
“The DPP has a limited authority over the private landscape. We therefore focus on our efforts on street trees that require the DPP permit, and in the special districts that require frequently approved landscape plans,” added Beatty.
In March 2024, the department killed a guideline that aims to slow the spread of CRB until effective treatments are available. The guideline focuses on areas under DPPS of direct authority and includes the following measures: – Increasing palm trees from the fulfillment of the road tree requirements. Management plan for affected developments. – The supply of damaged palm trees is replaced by tree species that are not susceptible to CRB.
Despite the efforts, DPP continues to see new urban landscapes that are dominated by palm trees such as coconut and Loulu. The department encourages residents and developers to take alternative tree species into account.
Local and Polynesian species in the city's road tree list offer a number of sizes and advantages. These plants include Alaahee, Ohia, Hau, Milo, Kou, Kukui, Lonomea, Manele, Variegated Hau and Kamani.
Baldachin trees supported areas in urban honolulu – including those with special districts – and have places where coconut palms are common. According to the Hawaii Capital Special District, the Punchbowl Special District, the future transitor development -special district and the Waikiki special district, BEATY are among the locations.
“These areas are strongly based on palm plantings, and this trust is a real threat to our urban forest,” he said. “It also creates an increased danger because it is more pedestrian and highly damaged areas. Kakaako is also in this area, but is not under the jurisdiction of the DPP for landscape design.”
He noticed that coconut trees themselves are not effective canopy trees.
“Break trees offer extraordinary public advantages compared to their costs – shadow on site, the reduction of the municipal Heat Island effect, the management of rainwater and the improvement of the pedestrian experience, especially when different types are planted,” he said.
According to Beatty, a result of these efforts was a new focus on the inclusion of Hawaiian canopy trees.
“Several projects in Waikiki have already replaced palm trees in their landscape plans by more canopy,” he said. “For example, Hilton Hawaiian Village plans to significantly increase the covering of the canopy on the edges of her campus, especially near the lagoon.”
Another hope is that tree builders increase the availability of these species so that they can be used more frequently and on larger standards, he said.
“We also hope that other projects, including those in Ala Moana and Kakaako, will see wisdom to diversify planting in order to take a more resistant community forest and take measures themselves. “Damaged trees that have been treated are still a danger and should be replaced.
“We understand that this will require a shift in thinking from the community, including developers and landscape architects,” he said. “However, if you plant shadow trees and damaged palms with shadow trees, you can create a more resilient community forest.”
As far as DPP's efforts are concerned, no city money was issued for the cancellation of the CRB threat. “We work within the existing regulatory framework of zone and street trees,” said Beatty.
Jeanne Rice, a board member of Ala Moana-Kakaako, said that the CRB problem was a threat to all of Oahu, not only near her long-term place of residence near Ala Moana Regional Park.
“I think everyone has to be vigilant in terms of these beetles. I saw the damage he can do personally. It is a shame and I know that the state has tried to eradicate it for many years,” she added.
Only a few success stories were discovered in Hawaii in 2013 after they were discovered at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.
The insects come from Africa, China, Myanmar, India and Southeast Asia.
Adult beetles are black, 2 inches long and have a visible horn. They usually take their wings at night and can fly up to 2 miles if they search for a source of food. Female beetles could lay 50 to 140 eggs in their lives, which is four to nine months. And although the insects do not bite, they can carry diseases and should not be treated with bare hands if possible.
CRBS create drill holes in palm trees that can lead to an early death of a single tree. You then eat palm fronds to the point where the leaves are unable to be able to photosyntheticize and transform sunlight into chemical energy so that the tree can grow or survive.
Since insecticides and other methods with insect stops have only moderately proven to be effective when controlling the spread of CRBS, the city and the county of Honolulu has worked on identifying and removing the dead or dying coconut palms in parks in city, since such trees can become CRB breeding reasons.
Many of these parks are located along the coast of Leeward and on the north coast.
“Really, the unfortunate truth is that it gets worse before it gets better before it gets better,” said Nate Serota, spokeswoman for the city department for parks and relaxation, Nate Serota, during a press conference in Haleiwas Bill and Peggy Paty Kaiaka Bay Beach Park, where many palm trees had to be reduced due to CRB infections. “We have to remove more and more from these palms, really worried about public security.”
But according to Serota, CRBs are not only pending on palm trees.
He said that the destructive insects also threaten “Heritage plants”, including Taro and other booklings, which were brought by the Polynesian voyagers who were populated for the first time ago the Hawaiian islands.
The coconut -rhinoceros beetle reaction team, which is managed by the University of Hawaii and financed by the US departments for agriculture and defense, is also part of the effort to control the beetle.
At the same press conference in October, Keith Weiser, a member of the CRB Response team, said “success stories” in combating these insects are only a few and mainly occur in urban areas. He found that a combination of network and insecticide-in types with the use of vegetable pyrethrine zur control can be used.
Further information on the DPP program can be found at.