Tourism, ecotourism and coconut palm: stand out from anonymity!

For the tourism industry evolving in a competitive environment, it becomes more and more important to stand out from the standard fare that tourism offers. Many tourists are no longer satisfied by golden exotic beaches bordered by anonymous palms; and those who are will more likely choose the cheapest destinations. Coconut palms should no longer serve as symbols of anonymous and counterfeit exoticism: they should tell true stories, specifically related to local cultures in the framework of an ecotourism approach. As shown in this poster describing the varieties of French polynesia, the magnificent diversity of coconut palms deserves to be valued in agriculture, landscaping but also for ecotourism.

Click to see the whole poster!

An excellent example of what not to do (regarding the coconut palm) is the magnificent Garden of Paofai, in Papeete, capital of French Polynesia. This park, which was designed by a friend, was opened to the public on the seafront in February 2010. 

This green space of four and a half hectares offers landscaping, with many trees and plants, two and a half hectares of lawn, two waterfalls, four large pergolas and two fare potee. More than five hundred coconut trees are also planted there. Unfortunately these coconut palms remain anonymous and common. They were chosen without taking any account of the varieties and diversity of the species. The influence and value of this park from a cultural but also a conservation point of view would have been greatly increased if the coconut palms had been chosen to illustrate the diversity and beauty of the species Cocos nucifera. This example, but also the discovery of precious varieties in a public place on the island of Moorea, led us to develop the concept the concept of "Delocalized Community-based Coconut Genebank". Intended for the conservation of coconut genetic diversity in public places, this concept is described at the end of this article.

For reasons linked to both colonization and globalization, many Pacific islanders simultaneously “love” and “hate” the coconut palm. Their attitude towards the coconut is often a mixture of reverence and contempt.

Bad rememberings
from colonial times...

Borofski and Howards (1989:365) discussed the impact of the discovery of Polynesia had on Western societies: “The “noble savage” different writers depicted as residing on one of more Polynesians Islands, became a vehicle for criticizing shortcomings in European society…”. In the collective Western imagination, the coconut palm has become the ubiquitous and anonymous symbol of exoticism and tropical beaches. It is well known that the image of the coconut palm is now widely used by advertisers to market tourism, and also numerous products ranging from fashion accessories to financial investments.

The combination of coconut with "hammocks" or “monkeys” sometimes reinforces the stereotype of peaceful paradise, away from the stresses of everyday life, which are definitely not Coconut Producing Countries. Pacific islanders are reluctant when confronted with such counterfeit representations that standardize the tropics and deny their cultural identities.

Since the 2000s, the symbolism of the coconut tree has evolved and been considerably modernized. In connection with the development of the coconut water and virgin oil market, and also because of the craze for white or transparent food products, the image of the coconut tree has been positive towards the production healthy, natural, and pure products. The fight led by the International Coconut Community (ICC) against the lobby of US soy producers has also borne fruit. This last lobby had published rigged studies aimed at demonstrating that coconut oil was bad for your health and could cause heart attacks; and that it was better - of course! - to consume soybean oil. The truth has since been established, but the ICC, now supported by the Coconut Coalition of the Americas, continues to take action to raise awareness and promote the nutritional value of coconut products.

During a survey in the Cook Islands, we succeeded with considerable difficulty in locating a palm from the “Sweet husk” type named there niu mangaro. The survey was conducted on conjunction with a government agricultural officer. He took a tender coconut and started to chew the sweet husk. Then he stopped saying: “I do not want people here to see me eating niu mangaro, because they will say I am a poor man”. The consumption of traditional varieties is perceived as socially stigmatizing, even by an agricultural officer supposed to be aware of the value of biodiversity. On the other hand, the consumption of imported food is considered as a mark of modernity and richness.

A coconut palm, more than 8 meters high, was located just behind the small house of a villager in Tuvalu. The palm was used to produce toddy by cutting daily its inflorescences to harvest its sweet sap. The survey team discussed a few minutes with the villagers. Then, very politely, as has been done many times before, the local agricultural officer asked him to provide a few coconuts to make cut and photographs. This time, the reply from this villager was quite harsh: “Are you foolish? I never climb the coconut palm, I am not a monkey!” Later we had the confirmation that it was well this same man who climbed his palm twice a day to harvest sweet toddy. Thus, our hypothesis to explain the villager’s attitude was the following: his reluctance could be a reaction to the presence of a stranger, perceived as representative of the western culture and its simplistic symbolisms.

In short discussions with local people elsewhere in the Pacific, they can be a little reserved about the coconut tree during the first exchanges. Nevertheless, they change rapidly their mind and acknowledge coconut palm as an integral part of their traditional cultures. Jean Kape (President of the Paumotu academy), chose the name “Nâku teie hakari!” i.e. “This coconut is mine!” in the book on coconut from the “Association culturelle Te Reo o te Tuamotu”, in order to emphasize coconut as an integral part of the Paumotu culture.

The tourism industry and municipalities in Florida, Hawaii, Australia and other tropical areas are spending several million dollars per year only to remove coconut from the palms to avoid accidents due to falling coconuts. Globally, much more money is spent in removing these coconuts than for conservation of coconut genetic resources.

The concept was first proposed and applied to the Cook Islands because that country had difficulty securing land large enough to house an ex situ collection of coconut varieties.

It is necessary to develop rules and precautions to carry out this type of project:

1. - Supply, possibly against payment, the nurseries of the cities which often buy and replant adult coconut trees. They generally pay high prices for these coconut palms, around 100 USD per meter of coconut trunk. Contacts with the official managers of these nurseries are therefore crucial.
2. - It is preferable to have a "buffer" place where you can grow some coconut trees before having them transplanted in town. In other cases, for example on certain roundabouts, the coconut trees can be planted normally, at the age of six or 12 months. In many cases Cities prefer to plant adult palms.
3. - Only plant Dwarf and especially Dwarf Compact coconut trees in the city in the streets, which are less dangerous for falling nuts and leaves, and all coconut trees in the event of a cyclone.
4. - Plant the Tall ones only in places where the fall of their fruits and their leaves cannot cause major damage, such as for example at the edge of the water or in public gardens.
5. - Develop a geolocated database specifying the plantation locations and the genetic characteristics of planted coconut palms. This database should gradually be put online on a website available to the public.

Don't do this! Coconut trees planted
in Australia in a dangerous and stupid way

In Australia, we met both the most hateful people towards the coconut tree, but also the most stupid people towards this plant. The "coconut war" that ocurred in Cairns city was partially caused by inappropriate landscaping using the wrong coconut palms planted in the wrong places. Tall coconut trees have been planted along an expressway, less than two meters from the side of the road. The palms leaned towards the roadway and their fruits, if left to grow to maturity, fell directly on the vehicles. 

Fortunately, not all Australians are like this, and some - notably the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) - are among the biggest supporters of the coconut palm and finance numerous research activities on this plant. On the north-eastern coast of Queensland; Townsville City Council played a pioneering role in developing computerized mapping for coconuts growing on public land and implementing a regular fruit and frond removal program.

In this type of program, certain precautions must be taken against theft. For example, when the coconut trees begin to produce, signs must be added stating: "These coconut trees are part of the national collection and are used to produce seeds for the public. Please do not consume the nuts". Coconut trees should not be publicly referenced until they have reached a sufficient size, otherwise whole coconut trees risk being stolen.

The theft of mature seednuts is not as bad a problem as it sounds, if the seednutss are planted and not eaten as food. From a purely conservationist point of view, the best way to conserve a variety is for people to use it. Ultimately, it doesn't matter if they buy or steal the seednutss. If some steal and replant the seednuts, it means that the variety is appreciated, multiplied and saved!

In France, after the famine of 1785 and with the support of King Louis XVI who had tasted and loved the potato, the scientist Antoine Parmentier wanted to popularize the consumption of this vegetable. He encountered strong resistance, especially from the church, who called this vegetable "the devil's apple". He finally succeeded thanks to a strategy that included the stealing of seeds by the villagers. He posted guards around a large potato field, he strictly forbade the villagers to take sowing. He instructed the guards to let through the villagers who came at night to steal seeds...

There are huge and diverse opportunities to secure funding for such programs. This may be of interest to donors who fund agriculture and conservation, but it is also of interest to tourism funders and city officials who want to stand out with an original approach to plant diversity in public places. It's you to play!