Loulu Love Fest at McBryde Gardens spotlights native palms, beetle threat

Kauai’s only native palms were at the center of a stewardship push at McBryde Garden in Lāwai, where National Tropical Botanical Garden paired a community celebration with a warning about the coconut rhinoceros beetle, an invasive pest that can damage palms and other staple crops.

Loulu, or Pritchardia, are Hawaii’s only native palm genus. NTBG says at least 23 species are endemic to Hawaii, seven are found on Kauai, and its gardens hold 22 of the 23 endemic species. McBryde’s living collections include more than 700 loulu trees, making the garden one of the state’s most important repositories for the trees, which have long been used in hale construction and weaving.

The threat sharpened after state agriculture officials first detected coconut rhinoceros beetles on Kauai in June 2023, when two insects turned up in traps near a green waste transfer station close to Līhue Airport. The state called those the first detections outside Oahu, and by 2025 the Hawaii Invasive Species Council said established populations existed on Oahu and Kauai. CRB larvae live in green waste, mulch, compost and rotting plant material; the beetles can feed on coconut and other palms, along with hala, sugarcane, kalo and banana. Residents were told not to transport mulch and to check compost and green waste for breeding populations.

NTBG tied that risk to action with a Loulu Diversity and Identification Workshop at its Kalāheo headquarters on Friday, May 15, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., followed by Loulu Love Fest on May 16 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at McBryde Garden. The festival offered free admission with no advance reservation, shuttle service from Lāwai Gardens Visitor Center from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and a request for closed-toe, closed-heel shoes.

Planned activities included presentations, guided walks, ulana, hale thatching, hula, keiki activities, loulu art, CRB information, a live demonstration with a detection dog, loulu adoptions and food trucks. The event was funded in part by the County of Kauai and supported by the Kauai Invasive Species Committee, Conservation Dogs of Hawaii, the Cognition Learning Center at Kauai Community College and Kauai Ulana Zumalani. For Kauai, the message was clear: protecting native palms now means spotting beetle damage early and keeping waste from becoming the next breeding ground.