coconuts on Easter Island

[Eric in Orlando]

I didn't realize coconuts grew on Easter Island.

[Eric in Orlando]

[Eric in Orlando]

[PalmatierMeg]

I hadn't really thought about it. I assume they have been imported from elsewhere.

What's interesting is that when Easter Island was first inhabited, it had a tall, pinnate palm endemic to the island. But over the centuries the settlers cut down all these palms for housing, outriggers, etc. In addition, introduced rats ate the palm seeds. Eventually the palm became extinct. A shame.

[gyuseppe]

I had seen on television a few coconut palms near the sea in Easter Island, but behind these trees was all desert , and was not a nice to see

[Justin]

They have replanted a small amount of vegetation on the island (east of Hanga Roa, heading out towards the quarry) with Eucalyptus - it is now quite dense in places. But otherwise it is almost entirely bare. There are some coconuts near some of the beaches - planted in the last 100-150 years, and also some Jubaeas (again, planted relatively recently).

There used to be quite a few trees and palms on the island, but as mentioned above, they were cut down for fishing boats, used as "wheels" to help move the Maoi, and numerous other uses. When they were cut down, it allowed the wind to more easily blow through the island, which led to the topsoil being blown out to sea in bad wind storms, plus led to no more fishing boats, and basically the end of society. When Cook landed there in the 1770s, there wasn't a single tree or palm on the entire island. It's sort of a fascinating microcosm of what may happen on a more global scale.

Here are some pictures I took in 2006, showing the relative lack of trees (and some Coconuts):

[Eric in Orlando]

I knew about the extinct palm. And new Jubaeas grew on the island but thought maybe it was too cool for coconuts. One of the few places both will grow.

[Eric in Orlando]

cool photos !

[Patrick]

What's interesting is that when Easter Island was first inhabited, it had a tall, pinnate palm endemic to the island. But over the centuries the settlers cut down all these palms for housing, outriggers, etc. In addition, introduced rats ate the palm seeds. Eventually the palm became extinct. A shame.

The next time a "Which palm tree do you want the most" topic comes up, I want THAT one.

Interesting information, thanks for sharing!

[Alicehunter2000]

Kind of curious as to why there is not a big effort to re-populate the island with greenery? Would be cool to introduce species from around the globe....seems to be a waste of a perfectly good island.

[Erik]

I think that extinct palm was a giant Jubeaea sp. Anyone know? --Erik

[Eric in Orlando]

I think that extinct palm was a giant Jubeaea sp. Anyone know? --Erik

It was Paschalococos disperta, a cocoid palm related to Jubaea, Butia, Cocos, etc.

[Dundo]

Don't get me wrong but I think no one should plant any trees on Easter Islands. They are famous for having no trees and they should stay the way they are and remind us of their history (we must not repeat what ancient inhabitants of Eastern Islands did in past).

[Alicehunter2000]

I found this in an article from the Easter Island society paper.....it's good to see a re-introduction of Jubaea to the island....sounds like they need to plant thousands

 

"Palm trees have started growing again on Rapa Nui within
the last decades: coco palms and occasionally a few trees of the
Chilean Wine Palm Jubaea chilensis. All of tho e were planted
during the 20th century. The Chilean Wine Palm thrive and
pro per far better on Rapa Nui than in Chile's central regions.
According to fu t ob ervation , young plant can reach from
two to five times the growth rate of bioma on Rapa Nui com-
pared to the continent. Till enormous growth is mainly based
on the favorable climatic conditions (balanced high tempera-
ture , nearly year-round rich precipitation, and high humidity)
of Rapa Nui."

[NC_Palms]

The ecological decline of the Rapa Nui centuries ago explains why Easter Island is so barren. European explorers who came to Easter Island in the 18th century recorded that the island was absent of trees. The soil on Easter Island is also very poor, making it even hard for grass to grow on Easter Island. Like what @Dundo said, the island is meant to be a symbol of what happens if a society fails to balance the ecosystem with human desire. 

[greysrigging]

The discovery and settlement of the remote islands of the Pacific Ocean by Polynesian explorers and seafarers is probably the most remarkable and astonishing in the annals of human exploration. The Pacific Ocean is larger than the Atlantic and Indian Oceans put together, if you look at the globe of the Earth, you can't see the Western and Eastern shores of the Pacific at once. The Polynesians ventured out under sail in open canoes, without charts or navigation instruments, into the great unknown and found specs of land and settled them, establishing sophisticated societies on many remote Pacific Islands....Hawaii, New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa, Fiji,, Tahiti and Easter Island. These intrepid explorers carried the Polynesian staple animals of pigs, dogs and chickens ( also rats ) and food staples of  coconuts, breadfruit, bananas, sugar cane and most importantly taro.

For boldness, ingenuity and courage, no other adventure of the human species comes even close to it !

About 1400 years ago Polynesian explorers discovered Easter Island, a spec of land 2000klm ( 1200 miles ) from the nearest island, Pitcairn. They must be considered to be remarkably lucky to have found a fertile and habitable land. It is believed that the settlers planted coconuts and breadfruit trees, but that the climate proved too cool for these and they eventually disappeared ( 'Man on the Rim', The Peopling of the Pacific, Alan Thorn and Robert Raymond 1989 )

The new arrivals cleared land for their food crops then later as the population grew, they cut down most of the native forests to build platforms and sledges to move and display their statues. For something like a 1000 years, the Easter Islanders became obsessed with statue making, the population reached about 15,000 people, and the land became denuded of trees and winds dried out the soil and erosion blew it away. Warfare and famine gripped the Island, and the population crashed to about 3,000 by the time the first European navigators sighted the Island in 1722. Spanish slave traders kidnapped Islanders to work in Peru, and Smallpox decimated the remaining populace. By 1877 the population was reduced to 110 people.

Easter Island is a classic example of the adverse ecological disasters of human habitation.

[Mangosteen]

Apparently, Easter Island gets over 40 inches of rain a year, spread pretty evenly over the year. Is this enough to grow coconut palms?

[greysrigging]

https://www.climatestotravel.com/climate/easter-island

Looks marginal for coconuts..... ?

[Funkthulhu]

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/03/14/climate/easter-island-erosion.html

Good photo article about the erosion of Rapa Nui if anybody is interested...

[palmfriend]

Polynesian history always fascinated me - thank you for this thread!

If there are more pictures taken by our community members, please post them!

best regards from Okinawa

Lars

 

[Justin]

The coconuts I saw a decade ago all looked pretty good.  It's certainly a warmer climate than Madeira, where coconuts also grow.

[Cluster]

Yap I know of one very healthy coconut growing at 200 m/656.168/ft in an open yard on Madeira, so it should grow on Easter Island.

Edited September 19, 2018 by Cluster

[Alicehunter2000]

Coconuts are everywhere throughout Polynesian islands....It is more interesting for me that Jube's grow exceedingly well there according to the report, even better than in Chili's central regions. This is the palm most associated with this island and should be the one that is planted widely. According to other articles that I've read, scientist are not even positive that the palm that became extinct was different genetically from modern day Jubea.

[Zeeth]

Coconuts look right at home on Easter Island.

https://goo.gl/xgrZ14 

https://goo.gl/ueHGon 

https://goo.gl/5guqNL 

[Justin]

I don’t think people realize how far South Rapa Nui is.  It’s outside the tropics, and further south than anywhere in Polynesia besides New Zealand.  The cooler air allows Jubaeas to grow, but the ocean temps means it never gets too cold for Coconuts.  A very unusual climate.

[Xerarch]

2 minutes ago, Justin said:

I don’t think people realize how far South Rapa Nui is.  It’s outside the tropics, and further south than anywhere in Polynesia besides New Zealand.  The cooler air allows Jubaeas to grow, but the ocean temps means it never gets too cold for Coconuts.  A very unusual climate.

It is fairly far outside the tropics, but not as far as Bermuda which we know is loaded with Cocos. I’ve seen a lot of documents about Rapa Nui, I’ve always wondered what it looked like when the first settlers arrived. 

[AzraelFallen]

Rapa Nui should never be fully replanted with trees but coastal plantings to slow erosion loss should be encouraged. Dypsis decaryi would look cool next to moai. The problem with the island is that the whole thing is a giant archeological site, basically,  and its lack of trees preserves those sites still yet to be discovered.

[pnl22]

Hi everyone, I am reviving this thread because I am on Easter Island (Rapa Nui) right now and saw some coconuts with unusual shapes (kind of elongated instead of circular). I heard that the coconut palms on Anakena beach came from Tahiti some 50 years ago, but what about the other trees? Did they occur here naturally?

Edited September 29, 2023 by pnl22