Dryland forest symposium slated
The 2014 Nahelehele Dryland Forest Symposium will highlight dryland forest ecology and restoration efforts in Hawaii.
The symposium will be held from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Feb. 21 at King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel in Kailua-Kona.
There will be two accompanying half-day field trips ($35 each with lunch provided) on Feb. 20 to the Kiholo Bay fishpond and Feb. 22 to Puuwaawaa. Field trips will provide participants with opportunities to do on-site service work to “give back to the forest.”
The symposium will feature presentations by scientists and conservationists who are working to learn about and preserve Hawaiian dryland forest plants and ecosystems. The keynote speaker this year will be Michael Soule, professor emeritus at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who will talk about conservation in a changing world. Soule is often considered the “father of conservation biology.” He was a founder and president of the Society for Conservation Biology.
The public is invited to attend the symposium. Register by Monday and the cost is $55, which includes lunch; after Monday, registration is $70. Student with valid school identification can register for $40 before Monday; $50 after.
For more information and to register, visit kohalacenter.org/nahelehele14/about.html.
Questions regarding registration may be directed to Cortney Okumura at The Kohala Center at cokumura@kohalacenter.org or 443-2757.
The Nahelehele Dryland Forest Symposium is a project of Kaahahui o ka Nahelehele, a nonprofit organization dedicated to dry forest advocacy and partnerships.
For more information, visit dryforest.org.
Daughters of Hawaii and Calabash Cousins meet Thursday.
The next meeting for the Daughters of Hawaii and Calabash Cousins will be at 1 p.m. Thursday on the lawn at the Hulihee Palace. Information of upcoming activities and events will be discussed.
The guest speaker will be from the Royal Order of Kamehameha.
Guests and potential members are welcome. For information about membership, call Geri Eckert at 322-0666, Bettina Linke at 324-7062 or Lale Kam at 938-6394.
Committee on Status of Women meeting
The Hawaii County Committee on the Status of Women invites all interested people to attend its next meeting at 10 a.m. Friday at the Waimea Center, 65-1158 Mamalahoa Highway, Suite 2C, in Waimea.
For more information, call Roxanne Aburamen at 934-3345.