ACIAR-supported research in Fiji has developed new wood product engineering processes now being commercially trialled in both Fiji and Australia.
The engineering innovation has come from the Queensland Department of Primary Industries (QDPI) Forest Product Innovation team, which has been working with partners in Fiji and Australia on a process to create timber veneers from coconut palms.
The new veneer process recovers double the amount of timber of traditional sawn timber processes. It also requires less investment in equipment and uses less energy than conventional veneer processes.
Project leader Dr Rob McGavin at QDPI said while veneer technology is used for many different timbers, his team has refined the traditional process primarily in response to the challenges of turning coconut palms into timber.
Fiji has about 40,000 hectares of senile coconut palms – trees that may be 50 years old or more and are no longer productive. Left in the ground, the trees are susceptible to pests and diseases that can infect productive palms.
But there has been limited incentive to remove senile palms and replant with either new coconut palms or other crops. If the palms hold value as a timber resource, it may help subsidise replanting, bringing more land back into production and increasing income opportunities for local smallholders.
With this objective in mind, ACIAR has supported coconut timber-related research in Fiji for more than a decade. Two previous projects first confirmed that coconut palms could be used as a source of wood, and then developed a production process that has worked effectively in a laboratory and then at a semi-commercial level.
Having overcome the technical challenges of production, the current ACIAR-supported project is focused on the commercial adoption of new engineered wood product manufacturing processes.
The project team is working with partners in both Fiji and Australia to scale up the technology for commercial use and to develop marketable products.
As the manufacture of engineered wood products from coconut palms potentially creates a new industry, the project is also identifying training and employment opportunities for both women and men in Fiji, and is assessing likely social impacts.