Special benefit for the birds set
LAHAINA – Since September 2009, Maui Brewing Company has been hosting benefit nights for the Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project.
Last year, the company initiated it into a quarterly event and have continued them this year.
The Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project (MFBRP) is a research organization created in 1997 by the state Division of Forestry and Wildlife and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
MFBRP’s mission is to develop and implement techniques that recover Maui’s endangered birds and to restore their habitats through research, development and application of conservation techniques.
Their main research is centered on the rare and endangered Maui Parrotbill, or Kiwikiu. This bird is only found high in the forests of Haleakala.
Banded individuals and resights of these birds are used to determine territories, pairs and productivity. This research will guide state and federal recovery actions.
On benefit nights, half of the event’s pint sales go to MFRBP. The organization uses these funds to help save the unique birds of Maui.
The last fundraiser of 2011 will be held on Friday, Dec. 30, from 6 p.m. to midnight at Maui Brewing Company at Kahana Gateway Shopping Center.
This fundraiser will be unique, because the brewery has created a special beer for the night: Parrotbill Pub Ale, an English-style bitter. It is named after the bird that is currently the rarest on Maui and the focal species of MFBRP. To celebrate its debut, music will be featured after 9:30 p.m. with Halemanu, who plays Hawaiian-style music infused with jazz and rock, and local conservationist and musician Tyler Bush, a talented rock guitarist.
For more information on the event, call Laura Berthold at 573-0280 or e-mail at laura@mauiforestbirds.org. For information on the MFBRP, visit www.mauiforestbirds.org.
MFBRP thanked Maui Brewing Company for its support and to everyone who attended its 2011 events.