permaculture

[David Muhl <dmuhl65@yahoo.com>]

True...the import/export of coir around the world is (mostly) a byproduct of 
coconut plantations of various sizes, and it's pretty obvious that monocrop 
agriculture does not lend itself to biodiversity.  However, for those that 
live in climates where coconut palms grow, it can be a renewable resource if 
harvested as needed at the local level for local use, and not treated as 
merely an export commodity.  This is not currently an option for many of us, 
but it is for some.

For anyone that might be feeling guilty about their "commercial" coir use and 
orangutan habitat destruction, it should be clarified that 90% of the worlds 
coconut coir production occurs in India/Sri Lanka.  Coir is made from 
coconuts, and since "Oil Palms" don't produce coconuts, people need not feel 
guilty about their coir use affecting orangutan habitat in Borneo and 
Sumatra.  My understanding is that the damage in these areas is due primarily 
to timber and "oil palm" production (followed by rubber, cacao, coffee, 
cinnamon, and mining operations).


> On 4/8/2011 2:18 PM, Paul Cross
> wrote:
> > I've often wondered why people seem to think coir is
> ecological. It is
> > produced as a byproduct of industrial agriculture that
> destroys
> > rainforests and plants monocrops of palms. As
> permaculturalists we have
> > to recognize that any outside input impacts the site
> from which it was
> > taken. Maybe in our accounting that is acceptable, or
> maybe it is not.
> > We can think we're doing good by washing our dishes in
> coconut oil soap
> > instead of petrochemical detergents, growing seedlings
> in coir instead
> > of peat, but the orangutans who lost their habitat to
> palm plantations
> > don't see it that way. We're always causing impacts.
> 
> To back you up on this here's something I picked up on
> recently:
> 
> "The biggest problem agriculturally is that the most
> profitable crop 
> here and in Indonesia is palm trees for palm oil, the
> universal cooking 
> oil in this part of the world.  Problems are that palm
> oil is hideously 
> viscous and overwhelms anything cooked in it.  In
> addition, there is no 
> life form that can survive in a palm oil forest.  Zero
> ecological balance."
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