A non-profit Friends Group supporting the three national wildlife refuges located on Kauaʻi.
Together, Friends can do so much…
Friends of Kauaʻi Wildlife Refuges (FKWR) serves as a nonprofit “Friends Group,” supporting the environmental and wildlife conservation, historic preservation and community education programs of the Kauaʻi National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) Complex, which are administered by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and includes Kīlauea Point NWR, Hanalei NWR and Hulēʻia NWR.
Our organization helps to fill in the gaps in the programs administered by the Refuge team by providing funding and Friends Group staffing to support a variety of refuge priorities. Friends of Kauaʻi Wildlife Refuges also manages the Friends Nature Store and Visitor Center at Kīlauea Point NWR, supports environmental education programs, administers an annual scholarship, conducts community outreach and much more!
Current Events, News and Activities
Endangered Seabirds and Light Pollution: A Call to Action
Presented by:
Dilek Sahin, PhD, Project Coordinator
Kauaʻi Endangered Seabird Recovery Project
We are in seabird fallout season, an important time to highlight the work of the Kaua‘i Endangered Seabird Recovery Project (KESRP).
KESRP is a project of the Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in association with Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW). Formed in 2006, the project focuses primarily on the three endangered seabirds found on the island of Kauaʻi – ʻaʻo (Newell’s shearwaters), ʻuaʻu (Hawaiian petrels), and ʻakēʻakē (band-rumped storm-petrels). Their work involves identifying the breeding distribution of these rare and enigmatic seabirds, monitoring their breeding colonies, undertaking research projects to better understand their life histories and the various threats which they face, and working with partner projects and organizations to ensure their long-term conservation. Join our conversation to learn more!
Free Lecture: Wednesday, October 15th, 5:00-6:30pm
Princeville Community Center and on Zoom.
Hawaiian waterbirds are facing an extinction crisis.
It has recently been estimated that state-wide waterbird counts are falling at alarming rates. We need to act now to ensure that our refuges have the resources they need to support these critically endangered populations. Our partners at Pacific Birds Habitat Joint Venture recently published an info sheet detailing this crisis.
Ka Pae ʻĀina O Hawaiʻi Nei
“Ka Pae ʻĀina O Hawaiʻi Nei” is a culturally centered educational program and a community created mosaic mural that is being developed through a collaboration with the Garden Island Arts Council.
The place-based inspired mural is being developed through a series of community workshops, in which volunteers will help to create an 80-foot-long by 4-foot-high mosaic mural.
The mural will depict the topography of the entire Hawaiian Archipelago, helping us tell the geographic and cultural story of these islands and atolls, how the High Hawaiian Islands fit within this long history, and how these protected lands and waters serve as a refuge for a wide variety of native Hawaiian wildlife species.
The finished mural will be installed on the retaining wall that begins outside the Visitor Center at Kīlauea Point NWR.
Lighthouse Repairs due to Storm Damage
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has announced the start of a project for storm damage repairs to the Daniel K. Inouye Kīlauea Point Lighthouse (located on the refuge). Kīlauea Point National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), located at the northern-most point of the major Hawaiian islands and one of three refuges within the Kauaʻi NWR Complex, provides one of the most important seabird habitat sites in the State of Hawai‘i and is home to the iconic lighthouse, listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1979. The refuge also hosts nearly 500,000 visitors annually.
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