Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle

CRB Response "provides education, awareness, detection, prevention, and treatments to protect Hawaii's communities, industries, and natural environment from the threats and impacts of CRB." The organization hosts the annual Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle Science and Management Symposium [crbhawaii.org]. CRB Symposium '26, “Harnessing Knowledge to Protect Communities & Ecosystems” is on September 24-26, 2026.

Established as an emergency response under the incident command system (ICS) after CRB was first detected on Oahu in 2013, the organization is managed through the University of Hawaii and primarily funded through grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Department of Defense (DOD), and Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR).

The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs (OIA) has announced $2,772,443 in Coral Reef and Natural Resources Initiative (CRNR) grant funds to protect coral reef resources in the U.S. territories and the freely associated states. The funding includes $1,541,421 that will support efforts to control and eradicate invasive species in the insular areas. Grants for fiscal year 2021 to combat invasive species have been awarded as follows:

• University of Guam for research and related efforts to counter the Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle - $866,423
• Micronesia Conservation Trust, a regional non-governmental organization, for the eradication, control, and management of invasive species in Kosrae, Chuuk, and Yap - $300,000
• Island Conservation, a non-profit organization, for the removal of invasive rats in Mili Atoll, Marshall Islands - $299,838
• Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Government for Sabana Pandanus Forest control and native trees restoration project - $75,160

Recently, the health of coconut palms has come under severe threat. The Pacific Community (SPC), working with Pacific Island countries and territories, and development partners, is looking for ways to meet this threat before it devastates the hopes of economic progress in the region. In August of 2017 an alert was issued identifying a new danger to the Pacific, which is causing devastation to coconut palms and expanding rapidly across the region. The new threat comes from a longstanding adversary in the region: the rhinoceros beetle.