The Coconut Revolution: sustainability in the face of adversity
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Amazing film from a less peaceful part of the Pacific
There’s an amazing sequence about 25 mins about the uses of the coconut as we well know from Vorovoro and also in war…
blockaded, the islanders have no choice but to look at new ways of becoming self-sufficient. And guess what the answer is?
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THE COCONUT REVOLUTION: Bougainville, our island, our fight
This is an incredible modern-day story of a native peoples’ victory over Western globalization. Sick of seeing their environment ruined and their people exploited by the Panguna Mine, the Pacific island of Bougainville rose up against the giant mining corporation, Rio Tinto Zinc. The newly formed Bougainville Revolutionary Army began fighting with bows and arrows and sticks and stones against a heavily armed adversary. In an attempt to put down the rebellion the Papua New Guinean Army swiftly established a gunboat blockade around the island. But with no shipments allowed in or out, how did new electricity networks spring up on the island? And how were the people of Bougainville able to drive around the island without any source of petrol or diesel? Watch as the world’s first eco-revolution unfolds within the blockade. A David and Goliath story for the 21st century. A multi-award winning documentary
Comments
Wonderfully uplifting Ben – I need to find out what is happening there now.
Any chance we can make grade 1 coconut oil to use as fuel?
Some more recentish news!! Off BBC
The South Pacific island of Bougainville has elected a president for its new autonomous government.
Former separatist rebel Joseph Kabui beat his nearest rival, former governor John Momis, by 14,000 votes.
The poll has been seen as a key test of a UN-brokered peace deal, which ended a 10-year separatist campaign by rebels hoping to secede from Papua New Guinea.
New Zealand election observer Andrew Ladley called Mr Kabui’s win a “landslide victory”.
But Mr Momis questioned the results, and said he was considering a legal challenge.
“A new day is now dawning today,” Mr Kabui told local media on Monday.
“Today is also the journey to see that Bougainville is no longer a province of PNG [ Papua New Guinea] but it is an autonomous region in PNG. That everyone must understand now,” he said.
Mr Kabui, head of the People’s Congress Party, is a former ally of Francis Ona, who led the separatist campaign that left up to 15,000 people dead.
The rebellion began in 1989 as a dispute over land and alleged environmental damage between islanders and multinational copper mining companies.
But it became a brutal war of independence, involving government forces, well-armed militias and foreign mercenaries.
Under a deal signed in August 2001, the two sides agreed that Bougainville should have greater self-government and eventually a referendum on independence, within 10-15 years.
The election of an autonomous government is being seen as a major test of the agreement, and an important step towards full independence.
Bougainville’s fledgling administration will run the island, with Papua New Guinea’s federal government retaining control over defence and the economy.
Voting lasted a fortnight because of the island’s rugged terrain. Some of the electorate had to walk for days or travel by canoe to reach polling stations.
forgot to say this was written about 2004!!
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