Remains of a Rainbow, a traveling photo exhibit of Hawaii's rare and endangered plants and animals, is returning to the R.W. Meyer Sugar Mill Museum, a.k.a. Molokai Museum and Cultural Center, on Kala‘e Highway, beginning November 21st, 2007, through Molokai‘s Earth Day Celebration on April 18, 2008. 

This stunning collection of portraits from acclaimed wildlife photographers Susan Middleton and David Liittschwager documents the rich but imperiled tapestry of life that is native to these islands. Sponsored by The Nature Conservancy of Hawai‘i, the exhibit includes more than 40 portraits from the companion National Geographic book, Remains of a Rainbow: Rare Plants and Animals of Hawai‘i, which was produced in association with Environmental Defense and with the assistance of The Nature Conservancy and the National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG’s Limahuli Gardens is located on Kaua‘i).

According to the authors, the book was originally inspired by an experience they had on Moloka‘i in 1993 when they photographed the last surviving Kokia cookei, a rare tree once found only in the island’s lowland dry forests. That Kokia cookei has since gone extinct in the wild, although a few plants grafted from it still survive through the ongoing efforts of biologists and botanists.

"It has been our goal from the start to take a collection of portraits from the book and exhibit them in local communities throughout Hawai‘i," said Middleton. “People hear about endangered species and they hear about biodiversity in the news, and somehow they are cognizant of it. But there isn’t much out there that really connects people with what this is all about, which is plants and animals that are native to these islands...I think our pictures are one way people can make that emotional connection."

Said Vickie Newberry, Head of School with Aka‘ula School, "That the once lovely Moloka‘i tree, Kokia cookei, was the inspiration for this amazing collection of photographs, creates hope for the future along with a tremendous sense of loss. While this species is no longer found in the wild, there is comfort in knowing it inspired such a glorious homage to the biological and botanical diversity of Hawai‘i. Viewing this exhibit should inspire residents and visitors alike to take care of our rich biodiversity."

Among the rare native plants in the book and exhibit are several from Moloka‘i, including:
-  Moloka‘i Jack Bean, ‘Awikiwiki; Puakauhi,  Canavalia molokaiensis  (Kamakou Preserve)
-  Nightshade, Pōpolo, Solanum nelsonii (Kaiehu Point, Mo‘omomi Preserve)
-   Cudweed, ‘ena ‘ena, Psuedognaphallium sandwicensium var. molokaiense, (Mo‘omomi Preserve)

 “In 1983, when I began working in and learning about how special Molokai’s forests are, I developed a passion for the preservation of our dwindling native natural resources that keeps me focused till today,” said Ed Misaki, Director of the Nature Conservancy’s Moloka‘i programs. “I was also saddened, because I realized that we never learned about Hawaii’s natural history in our formal education - instead we learned about California redwoods, Australian marsupials, African elephants, but never about ‘apapane, ‘i‘iwi, pūpū kuahiwi, pūkiawe, hīhīwae, pinau ula, ‘io, and all the other native plants and animals found nowhere else in the world but Hawai‘i. Today the biggest battle we face is that we don’t value the native forest the way we should, because most of us never learned about it. I’m glad these kinds of books and exhibits are available today, to help us all appreciate and learn about the natural world – these living dinosaurs and the source of our fresh water – we must work to protect,” he said.  

"We did not undertake this work to memorialize plants and animals that are destined to go extinct," said Liittschwager. "Quite the opposite. We have done it to call attention to their plight and with the hope that for most of them it is not too late."        

In addition to Remains of a Rainbow, Liittschwager and Middleton are the authors of three other acclaimed books on endangered species – Archipelago: Portraits of Life in the World's Most Remote Island Sanctuary, which focuses on the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, Witness: Endangered Species of North America, and Here Today: Portraits of Our Vanishing Species, which focuses on California. Their work has also been the subject of an Emmy Award winning-1997 National Geographic television documentary, America's Endangered Species: Don't Say Goodbye.

The R.W. Meyer Sugar Mill Museum, a.k.a. Molokai Museum and Cultural Center, on Kala‘e Highway, is open for tours Monday-Saturday, 10:00 am-2:00 pm for a small admission; admission to the cultural center is free.