If we choose the sites well, they should be able to carry on without further care. To make sure, we follow them through their first season, until they are established. We put each plant back within its historical range, in the vicinity of where it was first found. We use old notes from early botanists, kept at the herbarium of the Bishop Museum, and we identify known threats, what made the plant disappear in the first place. Pigs are a big problem here, and goats in the Waianae Mountains.
Rats eat every last seed of a plant.
In some cases, it is the lack of a pollinator that has since gone extinct. Garnett admits it's a fight. Since I started the job, we've cultivated about 20 different endangered species, but none has really recovered. They are all still regarded as endangered. Volunteers are welcome to help the endangered species recovery program on weekends with weeding and the cleaning of seeds.