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Exhibit A-1—Application DEPARTMENT OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT Narrative Proposal The funding provided by R&D will be used to support critical invasive species efforts at BIISC, particularly on invasive pests affecting our farmers: Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle, Queensland Longhorn Beetle, Two -lined Spittlebug, and high -impact weeds such as Devilweed. Although habitat destruction is known as the primary threat to biodiversity worldwide, recent research has shown that in island ecosystems, invasive species are the main driver of extinctions. Here, habitat destruction comes not in the form of bulldozers and asphalt, but in the slow creep of invasive plants replacing native ecosystems and creating unsuitable habitat for our threatened and endangered species. Severe shifts in plant community composition has other serious impacts in Hawaii: reducing resilience to climate change, increasing wildfires, reducing available fresh water. New pests; emerge to plague our farmers, reducing agricultural productivity and increasing the costs of food production to the point of threatening our goals of food sustainability. Invasive species are a slow -moving natural disaster, and have been found to be costlier than all other natural disasters combined. One of BIISC's core missions is responding to the threat posed by invasive plants. We work on multiple levels: preventing the sale & spread of invasive plants through horticulture trade; direct control in the field to eliminate or contain already naturalized incipient high risk invaders; and providing support to partners and communities to mitigate the impacts of widespread invasive plants. Our most high -priority plant, devil weed (Chromolaena odorata) continues to require the most time investment, with ten active sites being handled by BIISC throughout Hilo and Puna. Because of the prolific seeding of this weed, crews must revisit sites multiple times a year to catch plants before they mature, surveying the equivalent of more than 3500 acres over the last year with ground crews and detection dog support. The funding provided by the County of Hawaii will be used to support our work on detection and control of this and other high -risk plant species. With the detection of the destructive coconut rhinoceros beetle (CRB, Oryctes rhinoceros) in Kona in March of 2025, BIISC has had to dedicate extensive resources to the early detection and outreach efforts of the interagency response. Our community -trapping program has expanded to over 400 traps (plus an additional nearly 100 monitored directly by BIISC staff, including providing the replacement lures required every 3 months for each trap. Our staff has performed more than 70 mulch pile surveys, the majority with our contracted detection dog team, and responded to dozens of reports about suspect larvae and palm damage across the island. The R&D funding will help us to continue to engage in all of these efforts. With the anticipated issuance of a one-year Interim Rule by HDAB that will require businesses in the designated CRB-affected zone of Kona to operate under compliance agreements if they transport host materials, BIISC will be the main entity responsible for offering the required training. We will also work with each business in the area to help them come up with solutions to ensure they are in compliance with the mandatory rule and help them to adopt Best Management Practices (BMPs) to reduce the risk of spreading CRB both within and to the outside of the affected zone. We will also continue to offer outreach and education to our communities on CRB, and provide hands-on assistance to residents in making their properties CRB-unfriendly. BIISC will expand our work to assist our communities affected by the Queensland Longhorn Beetle (Acalolepta aesthetica). We are currently the main distributor for the USDA ARS-developed program of parasitic nematodes, and we will be expanding our staff to offer onsite training and support to farmers and residents dealing with infestations of QLB. We will provide field support to the USDA researchers who are working to develop and improve control methods for QLB. BIISC will also be expanding our role with twolined spittlebug, through hiring and assigning two staff members to work directly on research, outreach, education, and implementation of control measures with island ranchers affected by CRB. These staff members will work closely with the CTAHR-based research and extension team to ensure consistent and timely information flow.