HONOLULU — The federal government is classifying 48 species unique to Kauai as endangered.

The Interior Department said Wednesday it’s also adopting a novel approach to protecting the species, which include two birds, one insect and 45 plants.
It’s going to address common threats to the species and their ecosystem, instead of addressing their needs separately in an “overlapping patchwork” of efforts.
The two bird species are both honeycreepers: the akekee, or Kauai akepa, and the akikiki, or Kauai creeper.
The 45 plants include ferns, vines, shrubs and trees found nowhere else in the world. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says it plans to adopt a similar ecosystem model for protecting species on other Hawaiian islands.