HONOLULU — The state of Hawai‘i is dropping some knowledge on visitors and residents, alike, with a biodiversity exhibit at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport.
The interactive exhibit, which is set up in the Mauka Concourse in Terminal One, aims to inform people about the threat of invasive species on the Hawaiian Islands.
“This interactive biosecurity exhibit is here to help visitors and traveling residents to understand how important it is to protect Hawai‘i from invasive species and demonstrate some of the actions they can take that will really make a difference,” said Chrissy Martin of the Hawai‘i Coordinating Group on Alien Pest Species, which helped set up the exhibit, in a statement.
A team from Bishop Museum in Honolulu designed the biosecurity exhibit, which includes an interactive game for children called “Be an Ag Inspector.” Scrolling from screen to screen, children and adults can look at photographs of commodities and containers to find pests, and then tap on a screen to win.
The debut of the exhibit, which also includes a boot cleaning station, coincides with the annual Hawai‘i Invasive Species Awareness Month.
“This exhibit is a great example of the message that we are all responsible for the safekeeping of Hawai‘i. We’re responsible for keeping our home free of invasive species,” said state Department of Agriculture Chair Sharon Hurd in a statement.
“It’s like when you invite someone into your home, and you expect them to take their shoes off at the door. That’s why we have a boot cleaning station, so you can scrape all the dirt off when you board a plane and when you arrive.”
State Board of Land and Natural Resources Chair Dawn Chang, along with Hurd, were among the first people to demonstrate the exhibit earlier this month.
“It’s colorful, it’s catchy and it’s interactive. It is designed in a way that captures the Hawaiian language,” said Chang in a statement. “It captures the whole purpose of the biosecurity plan, which is to protect our environment, our food supplies, (and) our homes from invasive species. We see education as one of the first lines of defense for biosecurity.”
Hau‘oli Mau Loa Foundation, Hawai‘i Resilience Fund and the Robert Emens Black Fund at Hawai‘i Community Foundation provided funding for the project, which incorporated content and review from more than 20 agencies, individuals and organizations.
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Wyatt Haupt Jr., editor, can be reached at 808-245-0457 or whaupt@thegardenisland.com.
