'Conservation Week' Marked in Hawai`i

“While these measures increase penalties for violating our environmental laws, the broader goal is to encourage people to respect and protect our natural and cultural resources,” Lt. Governor told a crowd gathered at the Hawai`i Convention Center for the 16th annual Hawai`i Conservation Conference. “Two of the new laws allow us to impose a higher fine that takes into account the fair market value of damaged resources.”

The Lt. Governor added that fines collected from these violations will be used for restoring natural resources and creating public awareness about Hawai`i’s environmental laws and preservation programs. “We will continue to work with federal and local agencies, with industry, and with public groups to identify other ways to help preserve our precious natural resources,” Lt. Governor Aiona said.

The conference coincided with “Conservation Week” in Hawai`i, where Governor Linda Lingle and Lt. Governor Aiona have expressed their support of efforts to manage the state’s ecosystems and celebrate advances in the restoring and protecting rare and endangered species as well as their habitats.

For example, as acting governor in May, Lt. Governor Aiona signed into law legislation that established the Hawaiian Monk Seal as the official state mammal. Before that, the Lingle-Aiona Administration worked closely with the federal government to designate the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands as the state’s first Marine National Monument.

The Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument is the largest marine conservation area in the history of the state, and the second largest marine conservation area in the world, protecting 1,026–square miles of coral reefs from the shoreline to three miles offshore.