Palm

For my WEP post for Life is Beautiful...that's Chiaroscuro III...please click here. 

Fiji has palms. Everywhere. A lot of palms of various kinds. Palms at Denarau.

Fiji has rather a lot of palms – there are 25 different species that are native to Fiji’s forests. One of them has been profoundly important in the development of Fiji as a nation, and continues to be vital at present too in newer, innovative ways. I'm referring to the Coconut Palm, grown extensively in the 19th century in plantations and now forming the raw materials for a Fiji owned, sustainable, ecofriendly South Pacific furniture company with clientele round the world. It's called Pacific Green but it started life as Post & Rail in 1973. Read about their history by clicking this link here. 

Pacific Green produces Palmwood from mature, felled coconut palms - the waste product from spent plantations. Around 70 million of unproductive palms end up in landfills around the world. Palmwood is a registered trademark and has been developed after 25 years of R&D, it is positioned as a sustainable alternative to old growth rainforest hardwood. 

Post & Rail was rebranded to Pacific Green in the 1980s and operations started first in Papua New Guinea and then in Fiji where the first factory dedicated to R&D in spent coconut palms was set up. They expanded internationally with the first outlet set up in LA followed by others in Asia. At present, the company is listed on the South Pacific Stock Exchange and the major shareholders are the Fijian people. 

More Palms. Lautoka. 

Their tagline is "Save the forests, use palmwood." Palmwood has been used as an architectural material in Masdar City in Abu Dhabi. Personally I find their designs rather unique, sometimes a little quirky, they appear to fit into their spaces seamlessly and create a great South Pacific vibe. I've seen their furniture in the major hotels and the rental property I am at is furnished almost exclusively with locally handcrafted palmwood furniture.  They are very comfortable if a bit difficult to move around because of the weight. A smooth, even golden grain without the typical knots of regular wood, whether that's preferrable to the natural blemishes depends on individual taste. I like the grain and knots that nature makes, but would totally buy Fijian palmwood if I were staying here long-term and/or had to furnish my own accommodation.

Palms and pools at low tide. Wailoaloa. Nadi Bay. 

The other company with a similar environmentally conscious, socially responsible, sustainable resource-use philosophy that should be mentioned here is Pure Fiji. They use plant products and extracts to manufacture a range of rather luscious skin- and haircare items. My first intro to them was through the travel kit Fiji Airways provides its passengers - one item was a little washbag with single use packs of their lotions and balms. Find out about Pure Fiji here. 

All this month I'll be writing about Aspects of Fiji, which is where I'm parked at the mo. And where the sum of its photogenic parts is phenomenally greater than the whole!

Did you know that Fiji is among the top South Pacific island nations producing pineapples, (discounting Oz of course)? It produces around 8500 T of pineapples annually. And I can tell you from personal experience they taste pretty good! Papua New Guinea happens to be the leader in South Pacific with a production volume of 24,000 T. The other P-fruits here in Fiji are Pawpaw and Passionfruit. All greatly delish! 

~ Thank you for reading ~

Posted for the A-Z Challenge 2023