Coconut and other non-traditional forest resources for the manufacture of Engineered Wood Products Project (EWP Project)

Objectives

This research project will deliver and validate wood processing technologies to transform coconut and other currently low-value forest resources into high-value engineered wood products suitable for local and international markets. By providing new, profitable outlets for low-value log products, we can increase the returns from these materials to farmers, timber growers and processors, contribute to the renewal of the coconut estate, and expand employment and trade.

Expected Outcomes

The profitable production of coconut and non-traditional-resource-based EWPs will provide many wide-reaching benefits:

Maintenance and growth of existing processing enterprises and initiation of new enterprises that can turn waste material into valuable products.
Stimulation of coconut renewal through payment for and removal of senile stems; enhanced production and thus farmer income with new planting, and phytosanitary risk reduction with slash removal.
Increased skilled employment for women and men.

Project Activities

This project is supporting the establishment of a new value chain that allows unproductive senile coconut palms to be used in the manufacture of engineered wood products or EWPs.

The removal and sale of senile coconut palms, which are characterised by low or absent nut production, will help facilitate and offset the costs of establishing new food crops (coconut or other), in turn boosting food production and the financial viability of farming communities, while the coconut logs will supplement timber processors that are constrained by traditional, and now limited, timber resources.

The project will also work within existing value chains to boost the viability of EWPs manufactured from other sustainable forest resources, ensuring the ongoing availability of the high-quality, low-embodied energy products being increasingly demanded by the construction, architecture and furniture manufacturing sectors.

The harvesting guidelines have been developed to provide guidelines for the environmentally and socially responsible harvesting of senile palms for wood products. They cover all stages from the planning of harvesting operations through to the loading of logs for haulage to a processing site.

A guideline for Coconut Senile Palm Selection have been drafted to guide the selection of palms suitable for veneer production. Tree selection will be based on visual assessment that is centred around the tree age, species or variety, size, stem form, decay and insect damage. This guideline will be made available to assist farmers and harvesting crew.

In addition to resolving technical challenges with log processing and EWP manufacture, the project is studying the important social aspects of the coconut and other non-traditional forest resources value-chains (including gender inclusiveness), as well as investigating financial modelling approaches and product market access strategies, in addition to serving to boost skills capacity.

Partners

This ACIAR funded project is jointly implemented by the Pacific Community (SPC), Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (QDAF), The University of Queensland (UQ), Fiji National University (FNU), Ministry of Agriculture and Waterways, and the Ministry of Forestry in collaboration with the local communities, and industries.

Impacts beyond the life of the project

The project’s successful delivery of technology, processing capability and markets will lead to long-lasting development impacts for Fiji, neighbouring Pacific Island countries, and Australia. The project will deliver innovation in partnership with key stakeholders from across the value chain to transform coconut and non-traditional forest resources into high-value EWPs suitable for local and export markets that will generate future investments and continued momentum in this sector. Having key stakeholders directly engaged in all aspects of the project will ensure that the project outputs are delivered, and early adoption opportunities can be fast-tracked.

The pathway to impact envisioned for this project is that by developing a manufacturing protocol for profitable production of EWP from coconut and other small-dimension forest products supported by market development, we will create a demand for these resources that does not currently exist.