Wild: Native Plants, Animals, & Conservation

Hawai‘i is home to a remarkable diversity of unique habitats and ecosystems, largely due to its isolated location in the Pacific Ocean and its varied topography. The islands' ecosystems are shaped by a combination of volcanic activity, rainfall patterns, elevation changes, and ocean currents, creating environments that support a vast range of plant and animal life, many of which are found nowhere else on Earth.

This diversity of natural environments also played a crucial role in the development of Hawaiian culture, as the people of Hawai‘i, in their journey to adapt to these unique landscapes. Through their resourcefulness and interdependence, they built a culture with profound connection to this place.

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Duration:: 5 minutes, 6 seconds

Commensalism, or literally, "eating at the same table," is a relationship whereby one species benefits while the other neither benefits nor is harmed.

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Duration:: 4 minutes, 32 seconds

This National Park Service film follows a Hawaiian man's love for one of the rarest and most threatened trees in the world. Junior's connection with koa trees on his native island compels him to conserve and honor the spirit of fallen trees that would normally be wasted. His way of using the trees connects him to one of the oldest Hawaiian traditions.