17 MILE FENCE BUILT TO PROTECT MAUI RAIN FOREST Submitted by admin on Thu, 05/11/2006 - 00:00
By Harry Eagar
WAILUKU, Maui (The Maui News, May 9) – The latest link in the endless battle to keep destructive mammals out of East Maui’s rain forest has just been completed – a fence around 12,000 acres of mostly intact rain forest high on the windward side of Haleakala.
[PIR Editor s note: Haleakala is located in the eastern part of the Hawaiian island of Maui and comprises a National Park and areas surrounding Mt. Haleakala.]
Kat Lui, public relations director for the East Maui Watershed Partnership, said that in ancient times, a kapu [taboo] was placed on the wao akua [high forest] to protect it. Today, a kapu is insufficient.