MEDIA RELEASE

Na Kahumoku members and Institute for Human Services (IHS) employees joined forces to advance the Ka‘ūpūlehu dryland forest recovery efforts through the removal of non-native plants.

Restoring Hawai`i’s dryland forest is a tedious process that is never the less important. In addition to hosting numerous endangered and threatened plants and animals, dryland forests show us how we can preserve our soils; produce food, fiber and fuel; and preserve our water shed in the face of increasing desertification worldwide due to rising global temperatures.

Na Kahumoku, a project of the nonprofit Friends of the Future (www.FOFHawaii.org), is an environmental and cultural youth leadership program with a focus on environmental education in the context of place, culture, and service. Ka‘ūpūlehu is one of the places where Na Kahumoku serves and learns.

Both an extra curricular and co-curricular program, Na Kahumoku currently exists as a class called “Polynesian Culture Club” at Kealakehe Intermediate, and as an after-school program with additional weekend and holiday programming.

IHS (NYSE: IHS) is the leading source of information, insight and analytics in critical areas that shape today’s business landscape. Businesses and governments in more than 165 countries around the globe rely on the comprehensive content, expert independent analysis and flexible delivery methods of IHS to make high-impact decisions and develop strategies with speed and confidence.

IHS has been in business since 1959 and became a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange in 2005. Headquartered in Englewood, Colorado, USA, IHS is committed to sustainable, profitable growth and employs 6,700 people in 31 countries around the world. www.ihs.com

Education about the dryland forest and coordination of the restoration work was provided by Ka‘ahahui ‘O Ka Nāhelehele (www.drylandforest.org) and Hawaii Forest Industry Association (www.hawaiiforest.org).