The life of the historic Comose Fig tree (Ficus benjamina var. comosa) is threatened by construction plans for a new recreational facility next to Campus Student Center at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Dr. Joseph Rock, the first botany professor at UH Mānoa and internationally-renowned plant explorer, planted the Comose Fig tree roughly 100 years ago, and it's the only specimen of its kind on the campus. The tree has also been recognized as part of the UH Joseph Rock Heritage collection and is part of UH's historic landscape. 

The Comose Fig tree is located between Miller Hall Annex and Campus Center and is in danger as a result of the Campus Center Renovation and Expansion Project. The UH Landscape Advisory Committee, which is made up of faculty and staff of the university; the Outdoor Circle, a citizens group involved in issues concerning the local public environment and more than 1300 students have signed a paper petition and are against the tree's removal. Please sign below and join me in asking that the new Campus Recreation Center be designed around the Comose Fig tree, not over it!

Adam Williams, Undergraduate student University of Hawaii at Manoa

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