Coconut rhinoceros beetle (CRB) was first detected on Hawaiʻi Island in Waikōloa Village in October 2023 (see our past blog HERE) and was later confirmed in North Kona in March 2025. To date, 220 beetles have been caught, with detections concentrated near the Kona Airport and within the Keāhole Agricultural Park.
The beetle feeds on palms but breeds in decaying organic material, including green waste, mulch, compost, soil, and potting media. CRB detections are beginning to appear farther from the original detection area, suggesting that spread is occurring through human-assisted movement of infested material, rather than through natural dispersal alone.
This allows for infestations to expand rapidly making it significantly more difficult and costly to control. Hawaiʻi Island still has an opportunity to contain CRB and protect areas of the island that are currently uninfested. Hawaiʻi Wildlife Fund and Pōhaku Pelemaka have filed a joint petition to the Board of Agriculture and Biosecurity, asking to adopt a 1-year interim rule that simply requires Best Management Practices (BMPs) be followed in the infested area, specific to commercial movement of CRB material. This is similar to efforts made by Molokaʻi community members and Sierra Club in November 2025 – learn more HERE.
This petition requests that:
The Department of Agriculture adopt an interim rule to reduce the spread of CRB by regulating the movement of high-risk materials within CRB infested areas of Kona. The proposed rule would require that businesses operating within the defined zone (see map on page 2) must enter into compliance agreements with the Department to implement best management practices (BMPs) and take special precautions to ensure they do not inadvertently move CRB.
Compliance agreements will require:
● CRB detection and management training for staff involved in producing or moving potential CRB host or breeding materials
● Heat treatment of mulch and green waste to temperatures sufficient to kill CRB larvae prior to movement off-site
● Regular inspection and active management of mulch piles and other high-risk breeding materials.
● Inspection and/or treatment of palms, potted plants and potting media before movement outside the defined management zone
● Enclosed, sealed overnight storage (sunset–sunrise) of bagged mulch intended for retail sale, corresponding with peak CRB flight activity
How YOU Can Help Support this Effort –> Submit written testimony by EOD Friday, January 23, 2026 in order for it to be considered!
● Subject line: Re: Petition for Interim Rulemaking to Regulate the Transportation of Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle (Oryctes Rhinoceros) Host Material on Hawaiʻi Island
● Send email to: DAB.BOARD.TESTIMONY@HAWAII.GOV and please copy us jodie.HWF@gmail.com !!
SAMPLE TESTIMONY TO USE / WORK FROM:
Change out info in green!
[Your name or organization
Address
Contact Info
Date]
Chairperson Sharon Hurd
Board of Agriculture and Biosecurity
1428 South King Street
Honolulu, HI 96814
Re: Petition for Interim Rulemaking to Regulate the Transportation of Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle (Oryctes Rhinoceros) Host Material on Hawaiʻi Island
Aloha Chairperson Hurd and Members of the Board of Agriculture and Biosecurity,
I am writing to support the Petition for Interim Rulemaking to Regulate the Transportation of Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle (Oryctes Rhinoceros) Host Material on Hawaiʻi Island.
As the Petition states, Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle (CRB) was first detected in Hawaiʻi on the Island of Oʻahu in 2013. Since that time, the Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture (referred to as DAB in this petition) and its partners worked to prevent the spread of CRB. Ultimately, those efforts were not successful and CRB is now established and widespread on Oʻahu where it is decimating coconut groves, hala, and endangered palms. For the first 10 years, DAB was able to prevent the movement of CRB to other islands of the State. This unfortunately changed in May of 2023 when CRB was detected on the Island of Kauaʻi, where it is now widespread, and in October 2023, when CRB larvae were collected in the Waikōloa Village area of Hawaiʻi. After the initial detection on Hawaiʻi Island, adult CRB were detected in the Waikōloa area in 2024, and since March of 2025, CRB was detected outside the Waikōloa area at multiple sites in West Hawaiʻi, near the Kona International Airport and within the Keāhole Agricultural Park.
[Add your reasons for keeping CRB from spreading across Hawaiʻi Island and your relationship with niu, loulu palms, hala, etc.]
[I/We] urge the Board of Agriculture and Biosecurity to direct DAB to convene a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Plants and Animals to consider the interim rule described in the Petition and approve the interim rule as quickly as possible.
[Add any closing thoughts]
Thank you for the opportunity to provide this testimony and for your efforts to help control the spread of CRB across Hawaiʻi Island.
Mahalo,
[Your name/organization]
