U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland on Tuesday announced that nearly $16 million in federal funding has been committed to the prevention of the imminent extinction of Hawaiian forest birds.

Haaland made the announcement Tuesday morning as the opening keynote speaker of the Hawaii Conservation Conference in Waikiki, and again, following an afternoon tour of a wetland restoration project by Kakoo Oiwi in Heeia.

The funding, part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, will support a new Hawaiian Forest Bird Conservation Keystone Initiative, which was unveiled earlier this year as part of the department’s Restoration and Resilience Framework.

This framework is guiding $2 billion in investments from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act to restore lands and waters and advance climate resilience.

“These birds are an integral, ecological and cultural component of the Hawaiian Islands,” said Haaland while at Heeia. “They reflect the health of forests and represent cultural connections between Native Hawaiians and the islands, yet due to climate change, invasive mosquitoes and other threats, they’re on a path toward imminent extinction unless we act.”

Historically, there were once over 50 different species of honeycreepers in Hawaii, but the number has dwindled to 17.

Hawaiian forest birds found only in Hawaii, including the iiwi, kiwikiu and akikiki, face a number of threats — ranging from habitat loss to invasive species, and diseases such as avian malaria spread by mosquitoes — compounded by climate change.

Experts say without this funding, two species could go extinct within the next year.

The keystone initiative will expand captive care programs for bird species most at risk of imminent extinction, work to control and eradicate invasive mosquitoes that spread avian malaria, and translocate bird populations to higher elevations for survival, among other strategies.

It will also engage Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners and experts at every major stage of a conservation action, according to a news release.

“As we move forward on these urgent efforts, we are prioritizing management with the Native Hawaiian community through consultation, knowledge sharing and traditional practices,” said Haaland, the first Native American secretary of the interior.

“The Hawaiian Forest Bird Conservation Initiative shows us exactly what we can accomplish for conservation when we work together, lift up partnerships and preserve our cultural heritage. We hope it can serve as a model for future initiatives and coordination,” she said.

Haaland said she believes Indigenous knowledge is “one of the absolute most important things we can practice in this era of the climate crisis.”

Dawn Chang, chair of the Hawaii Board of Land and Natural Resources, accompanied Haaland on the tour of Heeia, along with U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz.

“It has been an honor and privilege for me to spend some time with her,” said Chang. “I think there are many opportunities between DLNR and the state of Hawaii to intersect with the Department of Interior.”

She is grateful for the federal support, especially as climate change affects the state’s ability to manage and protect its resources, not only in its forests, but in its coral reefs.

Earlier in the week, Haaland also toured Pearl Harbor National Memorial and, at Heeia on Tuesday, visited the fishpond cared for by the nonprofit Paepae o Heeia and then the taro patch and agricultural lands restored by the community-based nonprofit Kakoo Oiwi. She heads to Hawaii island next, where she will meet with those working to save Hawaii’s native birds at Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge and attend a ceremony for the U.S. Geological Survey’s new research facility at the University of Hawaii at Hilo.