Coconut husk is the largest waste product from coconut-growing regions, but it can become an effective tool for coastal protection while also creating a fertile layer for plant growth.
From the sandy beaches of the United States to the islands of Indonesia, coconut fibers are being incorporated into coastal protection projects, according to AP.
Coconut materials are considered a cost-effective, available, and sustainable option, especially in developing countries. They are used in conjunction with other erosion control measures.
This material is also popular in developed nations, creating “living shorelines” that utilize natural materials instead of hard barriers made of wood, steel, or concrete.
Coconuts in a coconut plantation in Sungai Besar, Malaysia. (Photo: Reuters).
Green Solutions
A project utilizing coconut husks is being installed along a portion of the eroded Shark River shore in Neptune, New Jersey, about 1.6 km from the ocean.
Using a combination of federal grants and local funds, the coastal conservation group American Littoral Society is carrying out a $1.3 million project to protect the riverbank eroded by Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
“We always strive to reduce the impact of wave action when stabilizing riverbanks. We want to use nature-based solutions whenever possible,” said Tim Dillingham, the organization’s executive director. “This material is readily available, especially in developing countries, and relatively inexpensive compared to hard materials.”
Coconut fibers are stripped from the coconut shell and then woven into mats or logs, secured tightly in nets. In developing areas, people can utilize discarded fishing nets.
Coconut fiber logs installed along the Shark River in Neptune, New Jersey. (Photo: AP).
The flexibility of coconut fibers allows them to be installed on uneven coastal surfaces and then secured with wooden stakes.
Materials made from coconuts are biodegradable over time. Plants and grasses can be seeded inside, or residents can place seedlings into pre-drilled holes.
Coconut fiber logs help keep plants in place, allowing them to take root and grow. By the time the coconut material decomposes, mature plants are capable of stabilizing the soil and the coastline.
Julia Hopkins, an associate professor at Northeastern University in Boston, uses coconut fibers, wood chips, and other materials to create a type of floating mat. It functions to reduce wave force and helps aquatic vegetation thrive.
A pilot project consisting of four coconut fiber mats has been installed along waterways around Boston. Hopkins envisions a network of hundreds, even thousands, of interconnected mats to protect vast coastal areas.
“Coconut fibers are organic, relatively inexpensive, and a waste product. We are recycling a waste material,” she said, pleased with the project’s effectiveness.
Limitations of Coconut Fibers
Two projects in East Providence, Rhode Island, have been using coconut husks since 2020. A 731-meter long coastline at Jamaica Bay in New York, which was eroded during Hurricane Sandy, was stabilized in 2021 by a project that also utilized coconut fibers.
Cape Cod, Massachusetts, implemented a similar project last year. The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control is providing funding for residents to install living shorelines using green materials, which may include coconut fibers.
A project in Texas stabilized a portion of the shoreline at Lake Austin. Monitoring from 2009 to 2014 showed reduced erosion, along with thriving native vegetation.
Close-up of a coconut fiber log. (Photo: AP).
Indonesia is the world’s largest coconut producer, with an output of over 17 million tons in 2021. Scientists from the Marine Program at Bandung Institute of Technology used coconut fiber material to help residents build a seawall in the village of Karangjaladri, Pangandaran in 2018.
Residents of Diogue Island in Senegal are using structures made from coconut trunks and leaves to restore eroded beaches.
However, the use of coconut fibers is not always effective.
In 2016, the Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary in Edgartown, Massachusetts, installed an erosion control system at Sengekontacket Pond. Coconut fibers helped reduce erosion for a time but did not last long due to strong wave impacts.
“It was washed away multiple times. We used it for a few years and decided not to install it again,” said Suzan Bellincampi, director of the sanctuary.
“The project is fascinating in how we apply and adapt it. But it is suited for specific areas; it does not work everywhere,” she emphasized.
Similarly, coconut mats and wood were used on Chapel Island in Nova Scotia, Canada, but they suffered damage from severe weather.
