Verbesina Project

Over the past 15 years, Midway’s program to eradicate invasive Verbesina encelioides from the atoll has been edging ever closer to success, with numbers of plants encountered continuing to dwindle each year and a new prioritization on depleting the seedbank in Midway’s sandy soils making believers out of those who doubted eradication would be possible.

During the Summer of 2023, however, a reduction in funding resulted in fewer staff supporting the project and the possibility that an irreversible resurgence of Verbesina could occur across the atoll.

With the support of our members and donors, however, FOMA was able to match an anonymous donor’s generous gift to ensure that the work of Midway’s program to completely eradicate this noxious weed continues towards its historic goal with gifts totaling over $12,000.

The posts below are part of a series of stories, old and new, of the monumental efforts that have gotten us to this point.