Spirit of Aloha | Message of Aloha | May /June 2007

Love for the Land

Aloha and Welcome aboard! Aloha Airlines has been demonstrating its love of the ‘äina, this land of Hawai‘i, by supporting organizations that are actively involved in preserving and protecting our unique natural environment. In this column, and in a video that will be shown on our trans-Pacific flights, the spotlight is on just two of the groups that are doing this important work in different ways.
Despite Hawai‘i’s geographic isolation, and indeed because of it, these far-flung mid-Pacific islands became home to hundreds of plants and birds not found anywhere else. The first Polynesian settlers learned how to sustain the indigenous plant and bird species of the lush hinterland and rain forests. In more recent times, more than 200 species of indigenous plants and birds have been endangered and pushed to the brink of extinction.
Today, the Hawai‘i Nature Center is dedicated to fostering awareness and understanding of Hawai‘i’s natural environment. It does this through educational programs for children and adults, residents and visitors, aimed at getting them to experience and appreciate the great outdoors in Hawai‘i. On O‘ahu, it leads nature enthusiasts on weekend hikes, and on Maui, it offers visitors a chance to walk through or even spend the night in the ‘Iao Valley rain forest.
The Hawai‘i Endangered Bird Conservation Program is doing remarkable work in saving endangered species from extinction, and returning rare birds to their native habitats. At bird-rearing facilities on Maui and the Big Island, scientists and caretakers under the auspices of the Zoological Society of San Diego are breeding and raising some of the rarest birds to keep them from disappearing from the face of the Earth.
Aloha Airlines has been assisting both the Hawai‘i Nature Center and the Hawai‘i Endangered Bird Conservation Pro­gram for many years. For example, for the past nine years, Aloha has helped the endangered bird program by providing special service to caretakers who have to transport fragile young birds by air. Often it’s the case that the birds are rear­ed at a facility on one island and must be flown to another island to be released in their natural habitat. On occasion, we’ve even flown rare nënë eggs aboard our planes.
Aloha has a long tradition of assisting efforts to preserve Hawai‘i’s natural environment. We do this because we care about our Island home. We want it to be beautiful for residents and visitors to enjoy, now and in the next millennium.
Please take some time to learn what can be done to preserve Hawai‘i’s precious resources.
I hope you enjoy your flight! Let me know how we’re doing.


Let me add my thanks to you.

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