Project Profile: Collect Seed for Resilient Pacific Islands

Nursery on Anacapa Island where plants are grown from native seed collected on the island.

NPS / Annie Little

Bipartisan Infrastructure Law
National Seed Strategy | FY23 $300,000

The National Park Service is collaborating with a range of partner organizations to coordinate native seed collection for ecosystem restoration and rare species conservation in Pacific Island parks. Seeds will be collected and curated for use in species reintroduction and conservation efforts, post-fire restoration, and to develop sustainable seed supply chains for island parks. The project will enhance the ability of the fragile island ecosystems in California and Hawaii to respond to a range of pressing threats including climate disturbances, fire, increasing aridification, complicated land use histories, and visitor impacts.

Why? Restoration of the Pacific Island ecosystem is necessary to increase the capacity of NPS managers to respond to fire, drought, and insect invasion, while providing a genetic safety net for threatened, endangered, and rare species – endemic species found nowhere else in the world.

What Else? This project will provide engagement opportunities for youth from Tribal and Native Hawaiian communities as well as disadvantaged communities in the greater Los Angeles basin.

Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – Ecosystem Restoration

This project was made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – Ecosystem Restoration, signed on November 15, 2021. It is a historic investment in the restoration and protection of the environment.