RES 462 Draft 01 2006-2008 - Laserfiche WebLink

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„iY o• N, COUNTY OF HAWAII STATE OF HAWAII ~%'ar„~`" RESOLUTION NO. 462 08 A RESOLUTION SUPPORTING S.B.958 S.D.1 H.D.1 TO IMPOSE ATEN-YEAR MORATORIUM ON DEVELOPING, TESTING, PROPAGATING, CULTIVATING, GROWING, AND RAISING OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED TARO IN THE STATE OF HAWAII. WHEREAS, kalo (Colocasia esculenta), the Hawaiian word for taro, is a culturally significant plant to the kanaka maoli, Hawai`i's indigenous peoples; and WHEREAS, today, there remain approximately 85 varieties of taro from the hundreds that were known in Hawaii and, of these, the majority (69) are unique to the Hawaiian Islands due to the horticultural skills of native Hawaiian farmers; and WHEREAS, the important cultural relationship between kalo and the kanaka maoli expresses the spiritual and physical well-being of not only the kanaka maoli and their heritage, but also symbolizes the environmental, social, and cultural values important to the State of Hawaii; and WHEREAS, cross pollination of genetically modified taro would place an immeasurable threat on traditional varieties; and WHEREAS, experimenting with the genetic engineering of this crop without thoroughly examining and evaluating the adverse effects of that process is careless and could very well have far-reaching, irreversible, and unintended consequences; and WHEREAS, the purpose of S.B.958 S.D.1 H.D.1 is to recognize the importance of kalo in the heritage of the State by creating aten-year moratorium on developing, testing, propagating, cultivating, growing, and raising of genetically modified taro in the State of Hawaii; now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAII that the Hawaii State Legislature pass S.B.958 S.D.1 H.D.1 to impose aten-year moratorium on developing, testing, propagating, cultivating, growing, and raising of genetically modified taro in the State of Hawaii, and