Community encouraged to attend two-part series July 9, 13 on invasive CRB threats, resources

The County of Maui Department of Environmental Management, Office of the Mayor and Department of Agriculture are encouraging community members to attend a free, two-part series on July 9 and 13, 2026, to address the economic, cultural and ecosystem threats stemming from invasive Coconut Rhinoceros Beetles (CRB), pests recently detected on Maui.

• Part one: Virtual town hall on Thursday, July 9, 2026, from 4 to 6 p.m. Online via Microsoft Teams (Link: https://bit.ly/CRBTownHall). This informative session is designed to deliver critical CRB education, explain interagency response plans, and share with residents real-time data tracking, pest identification, and reporting methods.

• Part two: In-person resource fair on Monday, July 13, 2026, from 5 to 7 p.m. University of Hawaiʻi Maui Pilina Building, Event Center. This interactive evening connects community members face-to-face with partner agencies and biosecurity experts. Attendees will receive free information and educational resource packets.

CRB spreads rapidly via green waste and severely damages ecosystems by boring into coconut, loulu and other palms, causing up to a 50% mortality rate. They also threaten key agricultural products, including coconut trees, hala, taro, banana, pineapple and sugarcane, among others.

In addition to the County departments, participating agencies and organizations collaborating on these sessions include (but are not limited to): State of Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture & Biosecurity, Maui Invasive Species Committee, UH CRB Response Team, Pūlama Lānaʻi and the Hawaiʻi Invasive Species Council.

For more information on the town hall or resource fair, contact Kadian Shaw, County Office of the Mayor executive assistant, at [email protected] or (808) 270-7855.