The Nature Conservancy of Hawai'i recently completed construction of a fence around south Kaua'i's Kanaele Bog, which is home to rare and endangered plant species.

The fence encloses the Nature Conservancy's 80-acre preserve in an effort to keep out wild pigs, which have damaged the area to the south.

"This fence represents a major conservation milestone for us," Trae Menard, director of the conservancy's Kaua'i program, said in a news release. "Kanaele is a natural treasure. Nothing like it exists anywhere on the planet."

At 2,100 feet above sea level, Kanaele is the sole remaining low-elevation bog in the Hawaiian Islands and contains tiny endangered bog violets, carnivorous sundews (mikinalo), and the showy Lobelia kauaensis, with its tall spire of white-petaled flowers streaked with purple.

Pigs and weeds are the primary threats to the bog. Menard said, "The fence will prevent pigs from damaging the fragile bog ecosystem and allow the native bog vegetation to recover." Also, invasive plants will be removed from within the enclosure.

At the preserve, established in 2003 through a management agreement with landowner Alexander & Baldwin Inc., the Nature Conservancy protects the bog's natural community of plants and invertebrates.

The 6,552-foot-long fence, which Nature Conservancy said cost $149,000, was designed and constructed by the conservancy in collaboration with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and McBryde Sugar, a Kaua'i-based subsidiary of A&B. The fence was partially funded by the USFWS and various private donors, and was built by Remote Fencing Outfitters, a private contractor.

Durable materials, including corrosion-resistant galvanized mesh coated with polyurethane, were used to enable the fence to withstand the bog's wet environment. Kanaele receives an average annual rainfall of 161 inches.

"The fence is really just the first step to effective bog conservation," Menard said. "The next steps entail weed control. With the bog protected from pigs and weeds, rare plant reintroduction can then take place to build more robust populations."