Keith Robinson

Early life

Keith Robinson was born c. 1941 to Lester Beauclerk Robinson (1901–1969) and Helen Matthew Robinson (1910–2002). He has a brother, Bruce Robinson.

He attended the University of California, Davis, graduating with a degree in agronomy and ranch management. He is also the manager of a private botanical garden on the Hawaiian island of Kauaʻi.

Conservation work on Niʻihau Robinson has been credited for keeping numerous Hawaiian plants from becoming extinct, including Cyanea pinnatifida, which is considered extinct in the wild.

Contemporary activities

Robinson has repeatedly expressed his desire to keep Niʻihau privately owned so as to preserve the environment and traditions of its 150 to 200 native Hawaiian inhabitants, and has occasionally taken large financial losses to do so. Robinson's grandfather, Aubrey, largely closed Niʻihau to outside visitors in 1915. His grandsons have maintained this practice, though a few hunters and other tourists are admitted each year—but with limited or no contact with the islanders. The Robinsons continue to ban radios, televisions and mobile phones on the island, in an effort to preserve as much of the indigenous island culture as possible. In 1997, Robinson estimated that between $8–9 million was spent to keep people employed, not counting the free housing and free meat provided to the 150–200 Niʻihau islanders.

In 2005 a documentary entitled Robinson Crusader was released about Robinson's conservation work and ownership of Niihau.

Family tree