Facts about the State of Hawai‘i and Kaua‘i

We are proud to be holding the 2004 EGA Fall Retreat on the island of Kaua‘i, in the state of Hawai‘i. We want foundation staff and trustees to be aware of Hawaii’s ecological and cultural significance and all that Hawaii has to offer grantmakers. If you have any further questions, please contact the EGA office at 212.812.4260 or visit our website www.ega.org.

• Hawaii’s eight main islands total more than 4.1 million acres, are the most isolated island chain in the world, and are home to the most northern coral reefs on the planet.

• The Islands’ geographical diversity ranges from near-desert to freezing, 8 to 400 inches of annual rainfall, and from sea-level to 14,000 feet; and represents almost all of Earth’s variation in climate and most of its variation in soil.

• Home to the only tropical rainforests in the United States, Hawai‘i provides habitat for more than 10,000 plants and animals (90% of these are found no where else in the world).

• Despite covering only 0.2% of total US land area, 75% of US extinctions occur in Hawaii, which is home to more than a third of the birds and plants on the US endangered species list. Nearly 60% of Hawaii’s total native flora and fauna is threatened or endangered—the highest percentage of any state.

• With a total population of 1.2 million people, in 2001 the state of Hawai‘i received over 6 million visitors and the Gross State Product totaled $43.7 billion.

• There is no majority population in Hawai‘i; the population is fairly evenly represented by Hawaiians and part-Hawaiians, Caucasians, Mixed ethnicities, Japanese, Filipino, and other ethnicities.

• Citizens of Hawaiian ancestry represent the fastest growing section of the population, and the past 20 years have seen an important renaissance in Hawaiian culture including Hawaiian language schools, Hawaiian studies programs, land conservation projects, traditional sailing canoe voyages, hula and Hawaiian music schools.

• Hawai‘i became the first bilingual state in 1978 when Hawaiian and English were both recognized as official languages, and the state constitution protects the rights of Native Hawaiian s to access land to gather plants for traditional cultural and medicinal practices.

• Strong elements of stewardship exist in Native Hawaiian culture that frequently align with environmental conservation priorities—for both terrestrial and marine resources. The largest private landowner in the state is a trust benefiting Native Hawaiian children that holds 367,000 acres of land on five islands.

• The island of Kaua‘i is the oldest, northernmost and fourth largest (550 square miles) of the eight main islands; and harbors the greatest number of endangered species.

• Alien plants are the number one threat to the survival of 47 listed and endangered species found in Kaua‘i’s state parks.

• Mount Waialeale in central Kaua‘i is one of the wettest spots on Earth.