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Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge!
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About Our Refuge
Our federal Refuges are dedicated to conserving and safeguarding the diverse ecosystems and wildlife habitats that make up the backbone of our country's natural heritage. NWR are protected areas of the United States managed by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Through the NWR System, public lands and waters are set aside to conserve America's fish, wildlife, and plants. The first wildlife refuge was designated in Florida by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1903. There are now over 568 National Wildlife Refuges encompassing about 859,000,000 acres (about 5x the size of Texas!).
In Hawai‘i, the sense of stewardship for our special wild places is connected to the Hawaiian value mālama ‘āina. Mālama ‘āina reflects our responsibility to care for the land and its importance as a source of knowledge, inspiration, and physical nourishment. When we care for it, it cares for us. Our Refuges are places where mālama ʻāina is always at the forefront of everything we do.
There are eleven Refuges in Hawaiʻi: nine are in the main Hawaiian Islands and two, including the Hawaiian Islands NWR, are located in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. HINWR was designated by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1909 to protect millions of seabirds inhabiting the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands at a time in our past when seabirds were being slaughtered by the thousands for their plumage and eggs.
The Hawaiian Islands NWR sits within the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (PMNM), which was established by President George W. Bush in 2006. The PMNM is one of the largest marine conservation areas in the world. It extends over 580,000 square miles of ocean surrounding the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, extending 1,300 miles from one end to the other. These islands consist of rock outcrops, atolls, and sand spits. Nihoa, Mokumanamana (Necker Island), Lalo (French Frigate Shoals), ‘Ōnūnui and ‘Ōnūiki (Gardner Pinnacles), Kamokuokamohoaliʻi (Maro Reef), Kamole (Laysan Island), Kapou (Lisianski Island), and Manawai (Pearl and Hermes Atoll) are part of the HINWR. The two farthest northwestern islands, Kuaihelani (Midway Atoll) and Hōlanikū (Kure Atoll) are not part of our refuge, but they are a part of PMNM and are protected under their own designations as a National Wildlife Refuge and a Hawai‘i State Wildlife Sanctuary, respectively. (map credit: USFWS)
The Hawaiian Islands NWR and the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument together support an incredible diversity of coral, fish, birds, marine mammals and other flora and fauna, many of which are unique to the Hawaiian Island chain. These islands are home to 14 million seabirds representing 22 species that breed and nest there as well as four species of birds found nowhere else in the world, including the world's most endangered duck, the Laysan duck. The shallow water environments around the islands are important habitats for rare species such as the endangered Hawaiian monk seal and the threatened green turtle. There are also many significant cultural sites, with Mokumanamana having the highest density of sacred sites in the entire Hawaiian Archipelago, and great spiritual significance in Hawaiian cosmology.
In Hawai‘i, the sense of stewardship for our special wild places is connected to the Hawaiian value mālama ‘āina. Mālama ‘āina reflects our responsibility to care for the land and its importance as a source of knowledge, inspiration, and physical nourishment. When we care for it, it cares for us. Our Refuges are places where mālama ʻāina is always at the forefront of everything we do.
There are eleven Refuges in Hawaiʻi: nine are in the main Hawaiian Islands and two, including the Hawaiian Islands NWR, are located in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. HINWR was designated by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1909 to protect millions of seabirds inhabiting the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands at a time in our past when seabirds were being slaughtered by the thousands for their plumage and eggs.
The Hawaiian Islands NWR sits within the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (PMNM), which was established by President George W. Bush in 2006. The PMNM is one of the largest marine conservation areas in the world. It extends over 580,000 square miles of ocean surrounding the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, extending 1,300 miles from one end to the other. These islands consist of rock outcrops, atolls, and sand spits. Nihoa, Mokumanamana (Necker Island), Lalo (French Frigate Shoals), ‘Ōnūnui and ‘Ōnūiki (Gardner Pinnacles), Kamokuokamohoaliʻi (Maro Reef), Kamole (Laysan Island), Kapou (Lisianski Island), and Manawai (Pearl and Hermes Atoll) are part of the HINWR. The two farthest northwestern islands, Kuaihelani (Midway Atoll) and Hōlanikū (Kure Atoll) are not part of our refuge, but they are a part of PMNM and are protected under their own designations as a National Wildlife Refuge and a Hawai‘i State Wildlife Sanctuary, respectively. (map credit: USFWS)
The Hawaiian Islands NWR and the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument together support an incredible diversity of coral, fish, birds, marine mammals and other flora and fauna, many of which are unique to the Hawaiian Island chain. These islands are home to 14 million seabirds representing 22 species that breed and nest there as well as four species of birds found nowhere else in the world, including the world's most endangered duck, the Laysan duck. The shallow water environments around the islands are important habitats for rare species such as the endangered Hawaiian monk seal and the threatened green turtle. There are also many significant cultural sites, with Mokumanamana having the highest density of sacred sites in the entire Hawaiian Archipelago, and great spiritual significance in Hawaiian cosmology.
