HAWAII VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK – Hundreds of scientists, students and Hawaiian cultural practitioners are storming Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park this weekend to participate in the BioBlitz, as well as the Biodiversity & Cultural Festival.

According to a joint HVNP and National Geographic media release:

During the free, two-day event, teams of scientists, Hawaiian cultural practitioners, students, and the public will join forces to discover and inventory as many living plants and creatures as possible in the 333,086-acre national park. Expert-led inventory teams will be dispatched throughout the park to explore the biodiversity that thrives in recent lava flows and native rain forests, from the coastline to the summit of Kīlauea volcano. Entrance fees are waived both days.

Themed I ka nānā no a ’ike (“by observing, one learns”), the Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park BioBlitz will be part scientific endeavor, part cultural festival, and part outdoor classroom. It will provide unique opportunities to work alongside leading experts to discover, count, and document the living creatures in the park; to contribute to the park’s official species list; to explore the interconnectedness of plants, animals, the environment, traditional people, and our daily lives; and to help protect the extraordinary biodiversity and rich culture found in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.

BioBlitz “base camp” and the festival grounds will be located next to the Kīlauea Visitor Center, located in the park in Volcano, Hawaii.

Entrance fees were waived for both days of the BioBlitz and festival, Friday and Saturday, May 15 and 16.

Public Affairs Specialist Jessica Ferracane told us all about the big day in advance of the event. The park service produced a video promoting the event.

Image taken from a National Park Service video promoting the BioBlitz event.