Fiji has big plans for coconuts, with researchers and engineers across the Pacific working to capitalise on an abundance of mature coconut palms to create high-value engineered wood products known as cocowood – a bold plan to incentivise farmers to remove disease-invested coconuts to protect the future of coconuts in the region.
Earlier this month, the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (QDAF) Forest Product Innovation (one of the stakeholders in the 17-year project) invited a delegation from Fiji’s Ministry of Forestry to participate in a five-day capacity-building workshop to advance the product in development.
Wood Central understands that the stakeholders participated in a series of training sessions at the Salisbury Research Facility, Australia’s top timber research facility. With Gavin Matthew, CEO of the Engineered Wood Products Association of Australasia (EWPAA), Daniel Friedman and Matthew Ting, both from Hexion, providing guest lectures.
According to Dr Robbie McGavin, QDAF Research Facility and Project Manager and lead researcher on the project, “the workshops combined theory and practical sessions to cover aspects of engineered wood product processing, manufacture, and quality testing.”
“The Fiji Ministry of Forestry is a key collaborating partner in a DAF-led ACIAR project targeting the manufacture of engineered wood products from coconut and other non-traditional forest resources.”
The world’s newest engineered wood product could be a life-changer
Last year, Wood Central revealed that the Australian and Queensland Governments, the University of Queensland and Griffith University were working with the Fiji Ministry of Forestry and Pacific Communities to develop a viable market for cocowood.
“Coconut farming is a major contributor to the livelihoods and economies throughout the Pacific Islands,” Dr McGavin told Wood Central last year. “Our research has focused on senile plantations that are aged coconut palms, which require removal for renewal and replanting.”
Part of a suite of Australian Centre for Agricultural Research (ACIAR) programmes, Dr McGavin said the research has and continues to provide “valuable information about the characteristics of coconut woody tissue and different processing equipment that can be used to produce and dry rotary veneer and make products from the veneer.”
Once they reach about 60 years old, coconut palms suffer a major reduction in nut productivity and require safe removal and replanting to rejuvenate the crop. The presence of the coconut rhinoceros beetle means that coconut palms must be regularly monitored for health and well-being, with sick or harvested palms removed to prevent further infestation.
Palm removal and replanting can be costly. Creating demand and a market for logs to extract veneer from aged palms can provide communities with much-needed cost recovery.
“Through a series of projects, we have provided valuable information about the characteristics of coconut woody tissue and different processing equipment that can be used to produce and dry rotary veneer and make products from the veneer.”
“One of the many challenges that remain is identifying some markets for the end product, testing economics and social factors along the value chain and supporting commercial adoption,” Dr McGavin said.
“This will be the focus of the latest 5-year project supported by ACIAR, QDAF, Pacific Communities (SPC), University of Queensland, Griffith University, PHAMAPlus, Fiji Ministry of Forestry, along with Australian and Pacific industry partners.”
“In Queensland, we have a range of natural and plantation-grown subtropical timber species, which, like coconut palms, can be highly conducive to producing highly-valuable rotary veneer,” Dr McGavin said.
- To find out more about this project, click here for Wood Central’s exclusive interview with Dr. Robbie McGavin last year or this update from May 2024.
