The Oilforest Plan^™: 4 Phases

This program for integrated economic & environmental renewal is based on transforming unsustainable land use into tree-based oil production.   Vegetable oil can yield dozens of clean new industries, and achieve energy independence via locally-made biodiesel.  

The Oilforest Plan is a multi-phase program that can be adapted to any local situation and any level of financial support.  It's phased in a way that allows you to see rapid economic benefits, but you can take it as slowly or quickly as desired, and as circumstances allow.

Here's a brief overview of the 4 phases (a detailed description appears below):

1. Phase One: You'll create an integrated revitalization vision, strategy, and plan that involves all stakeholders; business, agriculture, citizens, NGOs, government, and academic. This is accomplished via a 3-step workshop process. During this phase, we will also help you find any needed financing to help your agricultural, power, or manufacturing industries with the switchover (we have contacts with agencies who have significant funding available immediately for exactly this sort of project.)

2. Phase Two: This begins the process of actually replacing problematic crops and other land uses with beautiful oilforests for edible oil and fuel oil production. Other high-value tree crops can be interspersed, such as spices and aromatic oils (which, together with palm oil, enable a local soap and cosmetic industry to arise or expand). You will can also develop new industries (including biodiesel) based on the oils you are already producing (such as coconut), but which you might not be using to their full economic potential.

3. Phase Three: While your new oil-bearing trees (and other alternate crops) are maturing, you'll start implementing the rest of the integrated revitalization plan created during Phase One.

4. Phase Four: As your new oilforests start producing significant quantities of oil (3-5 years), you begin the process of renovating your energy infrastructure to be primarily based on biodiesel. Production of food and cosmetic products based on the vegetable oils also begins.  This process can begin earlier if you already have significant oil production, such as from coconuts.

Below are the 4 Phases of The Oilforest Plan, in detail.

PHASE ONE

Create an integrated revitalization vision & strategy that involves all stakeholders; business, agriculture, citizens, NGOs, government, and academic.

• The strategy should base economic growth on the restoration of all 12 sectors of restorable assets: Agriculture, fishery, watershed, ecosystem, infrastructure, brownfields (contaminated lands), heritage (historic structures), and catastrophe damage (such as hurricanes).

• The strategy should take maximum advantage of recent events and trends, such as:

  • The recent rise in the popularity of biodiesel, which is now the fastest-growing alternative fuel on the planet;

  • The recent rise in the popularity of palm oil (now second only to soybean oil) and recognition of its superior nutritional and environmental characteristics.  Note: As with any crop, production techniques vary from sustainable to grossly-unsustainable. An example of the latter would be where virgin rain forest in destroyed to make room for monoculture oil palm plantations.  Revitalizing old, chemical-intensive banana plantations with oil palms is a far more sustainable proposition.

    • Arboreal (tree-based) agricultural is inherently preferable--both environmentally and economically) to annual crops such as soybeans: They don't require plowing or irrigation, and appropriately-chosen species with sustainable management techniques require few--if any--fertilizers or herbicides.  Keep in mind also that banana plants are not trees.

    • In the case of oil palms, the agricultural cash flows are more stable than with tilled crops such as soybeans, since harvesting takes place year-round. Unlike highly perishable bananas, the oil crop (or locally processed products, such as biodiesel) doesn't spoil if market conditions aren't favorable, or transport interruptions occur.

  • Discovery of American oil palm's (Elaeis oleifera) superiority (to African oil palm: Elaeis guineensis) in terms of both nutrition and disease resistance (in New World applications, such as the Caribbean Basin). Current efforts to hybridize the American and African varieties might result in a superior product with a superior growing range. Other American oil palms also have tremendous economic potential, such as the Cohune Palm, common in Belize, which was the most valuable tree for the Mayan civilization: the fruits and hearts were used for food, oil, wine, & livestock feed, and the leaves for shelter.

  • Discovery of the Allanblack nut's (Allanblackia stuhlmannii, Allanblackia floribunda) environmental, commercial, and possibly nutritional superiority to African oil palm for African applications, where it's commonly found in a natural range encompassing many parts of East, West, and Central Africa. It lends itself to a more natural, "integrated agroforestry" method of cultivation, as it enthusiastically grows in both virgin rainforest and disturbed agricultural areas.

  • Research Notes: At some point near the end of Phase One--or at the beginning of Phase Two--research into the current state of your banana industry, the appropriateness of various alternative crops, the state of your forests and watersheds, etc. must be conducted. This can be done by your own government agencies, or by a local NGO, or it can be contracted to RF, which will assemble an appropriate team of experts.  The workshops that comprise this first phase will provide your agencies/NGOs with the guidance they need to assemble their own team of local experts and to design the research project, if you prefer to conduct the research with local resources.

PHASE TWO

Replacement of unsustainable land uses with tree-based edible-oil/fuel-oil production, and other high-value tree crops such as spices, plus the development of high-profit new industries from current oil production (such as coconuts) which you might not be taking full advantage of.

• To get the maximum value and fewest problems from this conversion, you must take advantage of the latest insights into sustainable palm (or other tree-based) oil production.  Done properly, your palm oil production will help restore native tree species and forests, restore your biodiversity, restore your watersheds/streams/rivers, revitalize family-based agriculture, enhance tourism, and possibly even contribute to revitalizing your fisheries.

  • In the case of the oil palms, oil is derived form two sources, the nut and the surrounding fruit. The fruit oil is recognized as one the world's healthiest edible oils, and the discarded pulp has a number of beneficial uses (such as animal food). Both the fruit and the nut oil are excellent for use in the production of biodiesel fuels.

  • Oil palms produce over 10 times as much oil per hectare per year as soybeans (about 375 kg/ha vs. about 5000 kg/ha for palm oil), while requiring far fewer inputs of labor, water, fertilizer, herbicides, or pesticides (if any).  Each tree produces about 13 large fresh fruit bunches (over 1000 individual fruits) annually.

• Environmental enhancement: The human-based (as opposed to mechanical) harvesting advocated in Phase Four (below) allows you to use a restorative agroforestry method of integrating native tree species with your oil trees. This is essential, if you are to achieve the wide range of economic and environmental benefits this Integrated Revitalization strategy is designed to produce. The native trees are sometimes interspersed as either individuals or copses, depending on what works best ecologically and agriculturally.  These native trees will help restore wildlife habitat and biodiversity, will provide sustainable lumber and firewood sources, can contribute to the agricultural economy (if they produce edible fruits or nuts), while providing more natural beauty.

  • Compare this to bananas, a human-made plant only distantly related to the original African plants from which they are derived (similar to the relationship of domestic dogs and cats to their wild forebears). The banana has little ecological relevance, even in Africa, and it tends to be highly dependent on human inputs, both manual and chemical.  As a result, bananas are more labor-intensive, and more expensive to produce. In addition, they do far more damage to water quality, soil health, farmers' health, and the health of indigenous flora/fauna.

  • Properly selected and managed, oil trees will not just reduce this damage, they will reverse it, especially if grown in a manner that restores native flora/fauna on former banana plantations.

PHASE THREE

Integrated revitalization of local economy while your new oil tree forests reach full output. 

• Production from new oil palm trees starts in about 3 years, they reach maturity at 10 years, and they bear fruit for 25-30 years.  But your country probably has many existing oil sources that can be used for biodiesel production immediately (coconuts, other oil-producing palms, used cooking oil, etc.).

• Integrated revitalization is how you get from economic and environmental problems to ecological renewal and energy independence. You need to survive economically while you're switching over, since it takes a decade for oil palms to mature. An integrated revitalization plan will create powerful synergies with your tactic of moving away from bananas, but it will not be dependent upon it. It will reveal the many other restorable assets your nation possesses, and harness them to the goal of socioeconomic renewal.

• Integrated revitalization also ensures that you enjoy the greatest possible economic and quality of life benefits of the banana conversion after it's complete.

• Revitalize historic assets for heritage tourism, modernize your infrastructure, restore storm-damaged areas, and restore landscapes.

  • Tourists to Caribbean and African resorts want to see vistas of palm trees, not banana farms, so The Oilforest Plan will help restore your nation's aesthetic appeal for tourism.

• Coconut Notes: Many ACP countries already have significant coconut production, but aren't currently using coconut oil to its full potential, such as biodiesel.  If your country is one of these, then you will be able to immediately begin weaning your country from foreign fossil fuels. In some cases, coconut palms will even turn out to be a more appropriate crop than oil palms.

  • If you already have monoculture coconut plantations that have replaced primary forest, there's a way to integrate the restoration of that forest, maintain your coconut crop output, and conserve remaining forests all in one fell swoop. Here's how:

    • First, have a landscape ecologist (or similar) plan a connected series of native habitats for the coconut grove.  Some would by open meadow, some would be dense copses of native shrubs or trees, and some might be wetlands, but all would be connected by greenways of native species, allowing the movement of wildlife. 

    • Second, carefully remove the coconut palms from the native habitat restoration areas, and replant them in the banana plantations that are about to be converted.

    • Third, designate coconut groves as preferred 'sprawl" areas, so that when population growth forces communities to expand--or new communities to be formed--the houses and commercial development will go first to these monoculture coconut groves, rather than destroying primary forests, farmland, or other wildlife habitat.  When the land is being cleared for construction, the coconut palms will be carefully relocated to old banana plantations. Of course, sprawl pressures will be reduced as a natural result of the integrated revitalization of your existing communities, which increases both their carrying capacity and their quality of life.

PHASE FOUR

Renovation of your energy infrastructure to be primarily based on biodiesel.  Full expansion of new local industries based on other uses of vegetable oils (food, cosmetic, etc.) products. 

• Biodiesel is the 2nd-fastest-growing alternative fuel in the world.  Over 2000 gas stations in Germany offer biodiesel, and it's rapidly becoming more available in dozens of other countries.  It's also used in many large government and corporate fleets of vehicles (California requires it, for instance), since it improves diesel engine performance and lengthens engine life.  Currently, demand far exceeds supply, and this will likely remain the situation for decades to come.  Most biodiesel is currently made from annual crops such as soybean and corn, but tree-based oils (such as oil palms) produce far more oil per unit of land, at far lower cost, and in a much more environmentally sustainable manner. Banana-producing countries have the added benefit of being warm year-round, so you can use 100% biodiesel for your vehicles and power generation, without having to blend it to prevent gelling in cold weather.

• Energy independence and healthier community economies based on your natural wealth of solar energy: Biodiesel is, of course, a form of solar energy, but one that requires far less technological investment than photovoltaics or wind. Besides freeing you from imported fossil fuels, it gives you an viable alternative to expensive, environmentally destructive hydro-electric projects.  Biodiesel can create an energy economy that even your most remote family farmers can benefit from, and contribute to: They don't need to be on a national grid to sell their energy. Since your primary markets will be domestic energy and domestic food products, you will enjoy the advantage of not having to compete with increasingly-mechanized, large-scale industrial palm-oil plantations. Low-tech, hand-harvesting techniques provide more employment, less pollution, and less capital-intensiveness. And, since you can blend biodiesel with regular diesel (many fleet owners do this to extend engine life), your local biodiesel manufacturer will have an immediate market, long before it reaches full production levels.

• Use your existing infrastructure: Most island economies--and many communities in lesser-developed countries--are very dependent on diesel generators for their electricity. Switching to biodiesel thus preserves the investment you've already got in this technology.  During the early years, when your newly-planted oil palm forests are not at full production, you can start weaning your country from imported petroleum by using diesel-biodiesel blends, eventually switching to pure biodiesel.  Over the next decade, you can encourage your citizens to replace their gasoline-powered vehicles with diesel-powered cars and trucks, so you can eventually provide almost all of your internal energy needs from internal sources. Biodiesel's high oxygen content (11% w/w) and high cetane content (over 50) results in more efficient combustion for higher engine power and greater smoothness.  What's more, its superior (to ordinary diesel fuel) lubricity--combined with its engine-cleaning solvent characteristics--extends engine life.

• Improve quality of life and public health: Biodiesel exhaust is far cleaner than petroleum diesel exhaust. This will have air quality and public health benefits for your cities and marinas.   Your local citizens will prefer the smell of biodiesel-fueled generators, too: It smells like a vat of french fries cooking.  You will also no longer be contributing to global climate change, either (no small concern for islands): The exhaust from biodiesel-fueled generators is carbon-neutral. The only carbon being released is carbon that was taken from the air by the trees.  And, unlike soybean-based biodiesel or corn-based alcohol fuels, you don't have the carbon released by the tractors that must regularly plow the land. What's more 100% biodiesel is non-toxic and biodegradable, so you don't have to worry as much about accidental spills on land or water.

• Give your marinas the biodiesel advantage: Yacht owners increasingly go out of their way to fill up on biodiesel: After all, sailors travel to distant island paradises to avoid the urban stink of diesel, among other things. Those who moor or live in marinas for extended periods appreciate not having to smell diesel fumes every time someone runs a generator. 

• You'll never overproduce vegetable oil.  Food and cosmetic uses will use whatever the fuel market can't, and this provides a broad spectrum of entrepreneurial and employment opportunities for your citizens.  If your fuel market is ever sated (unlikely), your oil can bring a good price on the open market for edible oils, especially if organically produced.  But, the big economic benefits are to be found in encouraging locally-based businesses to start processing the oil into value-added end-user products for local, regional, and international distribution.  There are quite literally thousands of such products from which they can choose.

To learn more:

• Contact us if you have any questions, or to schedule a 1/2-day The Oilforest Plan Vision session and become one of our two Pilot Nations, saving 50% on the fees quoted above.

• Subscribe to the free publications of Revitalization Institute, the alliance for community renewal and natural resource restoration. Learn more at www.RevitalizationInstitute.org

• Read The Restoration Economy (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, November 2002) by Storm Cunningham. You can read the Introduction, Preface, and Table of Contents free of charge online at www.RestorationEconomy.com