Hawaii Island Business Report 2018

Banking On The Seeds

The Lyons Estate’s Grassroots Effort To Combat Rapid Ohia Death

What started as a way to showcase modern, off-the-grid living evolved into a mission to preserve Ohia trees. The Lyons Estate is a 20-acre property in Mountain View with a 1400-square-foot ag building and a two-bedroom, one-and-a-half-bathroom house in the middle of a lush Ohia Lehua Forest. The owners, Lacey and Dana Lyons, rent out the property through Airbnb with the intention to introduce sustainable living to those that may never have considered it before. The Lyons Estate has catchment for water and photovoltaic panels for electricity.

“The home itself is off-the-grid which to me represents reduction in emissions and living a more sustainable lifestyle,” explains Lacey Lyons. “A lot of people have questioned why we’re doing Airbnb and whether or not it’s for profit, and it’s something that is self-promoting. My mission with the home has always been to share sustainable living with people so they can figure out a way to reduce their own personal emissions … by having a single family home we were hoping to inspire people and encourage the sustainable lifestyle.”

The Ohia Lehua is a plant that has strong ties to the Hawaiian culture, and it’s also a critical component to our watershed. | Photo: Jeff Hawe

The mission to showcase sustainability eventually led the Lyons Estate to discover the harsh realities of Rapid Ohia Death (ROD). It’s been three years since plant pathologists identified a fungal pathogen known as Ceratocystis fimbriata, that has been killing Ohia trees on Hawaii Island. Without a clear solution in sight for ROD, the Lyons Estate joined the efforts of the Ohia Lehua Project, and is banking and propagating Ohia seeds at their property.

“The seed bank is a temporary solution to provide something back to the community, but the goal is to stop Rapid Ohia Death, and we’re relying on government agencies and scientists to do that,” she says. “In the meantime what we can do with our healthy trees is giveback seeds so that when it’s time to reforest they have a reserve to pull from.”

In addition to the Lyons Estate, there are two other Ohia seed banks on Hawaii Island, and the more seed banks the better says Lacey.

“If you’re thinking that you’re banking 2 million seeds, how many of that is actually going to be viable and take? And how many trees have we already lost in 150,000 acres. The more seeds we have to pull from the higher the return will be,” she explains.

ROD is not just a Hawaii Island problem anymore. It was recently identified on Kauai, which has greater ramifications for future generations when you consider the olelo noeau: Ha hai nō ka ua ika ululaau (the rains follow the forest).

“Everyone should be concerned about Rapid Ohia Death because if it travels it will affect all of our ecosystems, native and endemic species, and in the long term will affect our watershed – the Ohia forests are a key component to our watershed,” she says.
“As the mother of two young boys I know I’m just borrowing the planet from the future generations and I want to make sure that the Ohia forest will be here for them.”