Car Nicobar Coconut Atoll Ecosystem Nicobarese Community

Car Nicobar Island in the Nicobar group is covered in dense coastal coconut (Cocos nucifera) forest maintained by the Nicobarese tribal cooperative under traditional tenure system recognised under the Andaman and Nicobar Tribal Council. Island communities harvest coconut for copra, fresh toddy, coconut water, and coir fibre without chemical fertiliser in a completely organic atoll ecosystem. The Nicobar fruit bat (Pteropus faunulus), a vulnerable endemic species, pollinates coconut flowers and disperses seeds across the island chain. Cooperative copra producers process dried coconut meat in solar copra dryers and sell to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Integrated Development Corporation. The 2004 tsunami damaged 70 percent of Car Nicobar coconut palms and the community spent two decades restoring orchard cover through cooperative nurseries and replanting programmes.