Video: Kalena Silva explains the cultural significance of the ʻōhiʻa tree

UH scientists are working diligently to protect and preserve the ʻōhiʻa tree, which is being threatened by Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death.

Kalena Silva, professor of Hawaiian language and Hawaiian studies at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo, speaks about the significance of the ʻōhiʻa tree to the Hawaiian people.

UH scientists are working diligently to protect and preserve the ʻōhiʻa tree, which is being threatened by Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death, also known as ROD. The disease has already decimated more than 34,000 acres on Hawaiʻi Island, leaving once lush forests scattered with the white skeletons of dead ʻōhiʻa trees.

• UH Hilo Stories, Dec. 9, 2015: Researchers hard at work to understand and stop Rapid ‘Ōhi‘a Death.

To save the ʻōhiʻa tree from extinction, the Seed Conservation Laboratory at UH Mānoa’s Lyon Arboretum has launched a campaign to fund an effort to collect and bank ʻōhiʻa seeds. To support the effort, visit gofundme.com/ohialove.