Coconut Palm uses
Coconut plantations
It is not known whether humans first brought coconuts to the islands or whether they were carried by ocean currents and washed up on the beaches. We do know that in the 1800s many islands were cleared of their natural hard wood trees and vegetation to make way for orderly rows of coconut trees, grown mainly for their oil.
Almost all of the islands are covered with coconuts, and left to grow wild, these dense areas of vegetation have caused “coconut chaos” and real problems for the natural environment. Coconut palms drink a lot of water, their large palm leaves, or fronds, stop sunlight reaching smaller plants below and they have no suitable branches for birds to nest in – leading to a severe drop in seabird numbers on some islands.
In order to enable the ecosystem to return to its natural state, and to encourage growth of native vegetation the dominating coconut palm will need to be addressed.
