French Polynesia: pearl of the Pacific

by Dominique THIBAULT

French Polynesia's atolls featuring turquoise lagoons dotted with coconut palms have made the country a magnet for tourists the world over, among them Paul Gauguin, Jacques Brel, Marlon Brando, Paul-Émile Victor and countless others who have fallen under the spell of this archipelago paradise's sweet and succulent lifestyle. Far more than just a postcard cliche, Polynesia offers unique natural wonders such as black pearls, monoï, vanilla, medicinal plants and thermal science, all of which the country is exploiting at a leisurely pace so as to preserve the country's economic - and insular - independence. But will Polynesia be able to meet the challenge of leveraging its resources without destroying its unique natural heritage?

Located 18,000 kilometers from Paris, Polynesia is made up of 120 small coral or volcanic islands comprising five archipelagos scattered over a vast triangular area in the east-central Pacific. The Society Islands form the largest of the archipelagos (nine islands and five atolls), and fall into two groups: the Leeward Islands and the Windward Islands. To the north of the Society Islands lie the Tuamotu and Marquises, to the south the Australes and at the eastern extremity, the Gambier archipelago.

Originally inhabited by migrations from the islands of Samoa and Tonga, Polynesia's first European visitor was Magellan, who came to Tuamotu in 1521. Tahiti was not discovered until 1767 when Captain Samuel Wallis took possession of the island in the name of King George III. Antoine de Bougainville came next (1768) and named Tahiti "Nouvelle Cythère". A year later Thomas Cook's discovered the neighboring archipelago, which he christened the Society Islands.

As from 1797, British Protestant missionaries began spreading the word of God amongst the Polynesians, leading to a number of uprisings. During this period, Polynesia was the scene of horrific fratricidal wars between the various islands, aimed at conquering territory and maintaining ancestral belief systems. In 1819 King Pomare II became the first Tahitian to receive baptism, whereupon he decided to structure his kingdom along the lines of a European monarchy. Pomare II was succeeded by his daughter Queen Pomare IV, and in the early 20th century this dynasty agreed to become a French colony, thus marking a turning point in Polynesia's political and religious history.

Raiatea: cradle of a 1000 year old civilization

Originally named Havai'i nui ("large gushing waters") Raiatea, which over a thousand years ago was home to Polynesian's first settlers, is dotted with traditional open air Polynesian temples or "marae," and in ancient times was Polynesia's religious center. Taputapuatea, the largest and most renowned of these temples, faces the sea and the sacred pass of Te Ava Moa. Dedicated to the worship of Oro the god of war, Taputapuatea comprises three seaside temples dedicated to other gods or venerable ancestors, as well as a central temple where royal princes and Maori dignitaries once sojourned. The site is a huge area comprising stone slabs enclosed by a low thick wall composed of four rows of superimposed basalt blocks. In the center of these stones is the "white stone of investiture," a monumental coral slab that is 2.7 meters high and 1.5 meters across that served as a throne for Maori royalty during religious ceremonies.

Tahaa: the first vanilla producer in Polynesia

Marked by inaccessible valleys and deep bays, Tahaa features a spectacular panoramic view, from atop Mount Ohiri (598 meters), of its neighbors Raiatea and Bora Bora to the south and north respectively. Tahaa's luxuriant valleys with their moist and fertile soil are ideal for growing vanilla taitensis, a local variety of vanilla bean. It has an irresistible perfume-like scent, is a hybrid of vanilla beans from Mexico and the Antilles, was first produced in the early 19th century and gave the island its nickname the "vanilla island."

Vanilla plants originally came to Polynesia via the Philippines and were first grown on Tahiti in 1848 by Francois Alphonse Hamelin, a French admiral. Vanilla growing reached its peak in the early 20th century, with exports of more than 200 tons per year, but declined precipitously in the 1970s and 1980s. Tahaa now produces 70 percent of Polynesia's vanilla (25-30 tons annually), and the outstanding quality of the beans inspires Polynesia's incomparable chefs, who have reinvented an exotic and refined cuisine featuring an enchanting alchemy of the sweet and salty.

Christophe Langree is a native of Brittany and renowned chef of the gourmet restaurant at Polynesia's leading Relais & Châteaux establishment Tahaa -Private Island & Spa, which opened in 2005 (48 suites built on stilts and 12 beach suites) and is located on a motu (small atoll) across from Tahaa, about whose vanilla Mr. Langree says : "Tahaa vanilla is the lynchpin of my culinary specialties, and in fact inspired me to create an innovative dessert which I call "Mille-feuilles vanillé, agrémenté de feuilles de uru" (vanilla millefeuille with uru (breadfruit) tree leaves), which our sophisticated patrons from around the world greatly enjoy. It's also my only ingredient that's not subject to the vagaries of climate and transport logistics."

As you drive down Tahaa's coastal road, which winds through the island's luxuriant vegetation, you see an occasional beachside pearl farm on stilts overlooking sparkling greenish blue waters. And of course pearl fishing is another of Polynesia's highly successful economic activities, and perhaps its oldest one.

Polynesia's pearl industry: the race for black gold

Long before the arrival of Europeans, the pearl oyster or Pinctada margaritifera was known to Polynesians, who used its nacre (mother of pearl) for ornaments and weapons. This species from the Indo-Pacific region features green, red, blue or grey irridescences in its nacre on the lip of the internal shell that have made "black Polynesian pearls" (rava rava) renowned the world over. The 18th century naturalist Carl Linnaeus first discovered the technique of introducing a foreign object into the shell, but it was the Japanese who in the early 20th century discovered and perfected the technique for making cultured pearls.

Polynesia's pearl culturing industry began in 1962 when Jean-Marie Domard successfully realized grafts in 5000 oysters and three years later harvested more than 1000 high quality pearls. The first Polynesian pearl farm was established on Manihi in 1966, but it wasn't until 20 years later that the craze for "black gold" began in earnest.
Pearl culturing has been a flourishing industry since the 1980s, so much so that pearl farms with disparate quality criteria sprung up in large numbers. This in turn resulted in a glut of products, some of which were of inferior quality, and this in turn led to a sharp price drop on the world market in 2000.

In March 2001 Polynesian president Gaston Flosse adopted draconian quality control measures, most notably the seizure and destruction of low quality pearls. Having been purged of dross from both a quality and quantity standpoint, the pearl market rebounded despite the decline of the dollar and intense competition from Indonesian and Australian producers, who control 24 and 18 % of the market respectively.

Pearls are Polynesia's second largest source of foreign income after tourism, and are one of the drivers of the national economy. Polynesia produces 25 % of the world's pearls. Japan is the country's biggest customer (53.1%) followed by Hong Kong (21.5%).

This key economic activity employs some 7000 people on more than 1000 farms scattered across 30 islands and atolls, including the pearl plantations on Tuamotu-Gambier, which accounts for 92% of Polynesia's lagoon surface. Pearl production itself accounts for 86 % of the industry's jobs, the remaining 14 % being related activities (stores, jewelry manufacturers, and craftsmen).

The secrets of pearl culturing: the province of a privileged few

The success of pearl culturing hinges on three factors: large numbers of young oysters (spats), an experienced grafting technician, and of course pearls that are pleasing to the eye.

In the first (and longest) stage of the process, collectors are kept underwater for 12-24 months, resulting in the production of young oysters that measure between 9 and 11 cm. After being sorted, the oysters are suspended in wire nets from floating rafts or contained in some other way. Once the shells reach a certain size, a mantle piece graft tissue and the shell bead nucleus are implanted together, side by side, into the gonad of the oyster. In this process the valves of the oyster shell are opened using tweezers so as to allow for insertion of the grafting tools, namely a micro-knife, tweezers to get the shell bead nucleus in and out of the pearl sac, and a cutter to harvest the graft. A small incision is then made in the oyster and the graft is pushed through the opening into the pearl sac. The nucleus is then grafted in such a way that it abuts the implant.

Once implanted, the graft fuses with the tissues of the oyster and a pearl sac develops around the nucleus. The organic and mineral secretions of this sac play a key role in depositing layers of nacre around the nucleus, thus forming the basis for the development of the future pearl. The grafting procedure is a trauma for the oysters, some of which reject their nucleus or die from the procedure.

Some oysters can produce keshi pearls, which are tiny baroque pearls with no nucleus. The success rate is determined by a host of parameters: the physiological condition of the oysters that are to be nucleated, the grafting technician's skill and ability, the quality of the nucleus, the nucleation conditions, and the conditions under which the oysters are cultured before and after grafting. Some 20 percent of nucleated oysters die within a month, an additional 5-10 percent expire during the culturing process, and 20 percent reject the nucleus altogether. Thus only 25-30 percent of oysters that are nucleated produce saleable pearls. If the pearl is of exceptional quality, a so called overgraft is realized using a nucleus that is the same size as the pearl that was harvested.

Rigorous selection criteria aimedat realization of a quality brand worldwide

A pearl's beauty is determined by a number of parameters:
- Diameter: between 8 and 18 mm. The nacre (mother of pearl) layer surrounding the nucleus must be at least 0.8 mm thick.
- Average weight of the pearls: should be about 1.6 grams.
- Form: pearls are classified as round, semi-round, semi-baroque, baroque and circular.
- Quality: determined by the number of imperfections and the amount of luster. The marketable qualities are SuperGem (perfect pearl), A (slight imperfections on no more than 10 %of the surface), B (more than 30%), C (up to 60 percent), D (more than 60 %), and rejects, whose low quality renders them unmarketable.
In 1993 an export tax on all pearls was introduced, along with a mandatory export license. 65 % of the proceeds from the pearl tax goes into the Polynesian government's coffers, and the remaining 35 % is given to G.I.E. Perles de Tahiti, a non-profit organization that promotes the sale of Tahitian pearls internationally.

Monoï: a thriving industry plays the cosmetology card

Thanks to a law passed in 1992 aimed at protecting the brand and fighting counterfeit products, the appellation "Monoï de Tahiti" is now reserved for the exclusive use of products made in French Polynesia in accordance with local practices, by macerating in refined coprah (coconut) oil the petals of gardenias (madder family (Rubiaceae), commonly called tiaré flowers) that are indigenous to Polynesia. The tiaré flowers and the coconut oil used to make monoï must be harvested solely on coral atolls. Other plant extracts can also be added to monoï. The manufacturing process is subject to equally rigorous standards. After being harvested, the mature coconuts are cracked and their kernels are extracted within 48 hours. The kernels are then sun dried for at least a week with a view to reducing the moisture content to 10% of its pre-drying level. The kernels are crushed into particles that are approximately 2 millimeters in size. The raw oil is extracted via a single warm pressing at a maximum of 125 C°. Maximum oil output is limited to 63°. The refined oil must have the following characteristics: no rancid or anomalous odors or taste; less than 3.6 mg of potassium hydroxide per gram of oil; and peroxide level less than 10 milli-equivalents of hydrogen peroxide per kilogram of oil. If these requirements are not met, the oil is not entitled to bear the monoï label.
After export sales fell by more than 15 percent in 2003, during which time the monoï was being marketed as a "sun product," producers adopted a more market oriented strategy that positions monoï as a high end "beauty product." This major shift in emphasis has paid off. Exports shot up by 19.9 % in 2004 (in an industry that only employs around 50 persons).

The four providers that have the lion's share of the market are organized into cooperatives that export 300 tons (300,000 bottles) of monoï to France, Germany, New Zealand, Australia and the U.S., which translates into annual sales of approximately 3 million euros.

Sales are promoted by Institut du Monoï whose main aim is to encourage cosmetics giants such as Estée Lauder and Christian Dior, and large pharmaceutical companies such as Pierre Fabre to use monoï in their products. "Toward this end, we have come up with a line of four colored products that are used for four specific body care and beauty rituals, the products being hydrating balsam, day cream, body scrub, and a sunscreen lotion. We are hopeful that these products will become the drivers of a unique and natural product world that will enable this sacred substance to become a major force on the world market in its capacity as the quintessence of physical and spiritual wellness," noted Antoine Srkala and Eric Vauxelaire, respectively director and deputy director of the Institut du Monoï.

The cosmetics industry is also showing a growing interest in Tamanu, whose healing, antiviral and antibiotic properties appear to have been well proven. Tamanu is made in Tahiti by Marseille-based Pacific Sud, which has invested 1 million euros in its production facility and uses 57,000 tiaré flowers per 5,800 liter vat to produce a wide range of monoï based oils and cosmetic products featuring various mixed fragrances such as frangipanier (flower), vanilla and so on.

A worldwide "first" on Bora Bora: a resort and thalasso spa featuring mineral-rich deep seawater!

Air conditioning an entire hotel using deep seawater that is pumped out at a temperature of 5 C°... Though this may sound like the stuff of sci-fi, the concept was in fact the brainchild of the late Marlon Brando, who suggested the idea to the hotel's majority shareholder Richard Bailey. Brando owned the neighboring island of Tetiaroa (which he fell in love with in 1965 during the shooting of Mutiny on the Bounty), which is in the Leeward Islands of which Bora Bora is the crown jewel. Brando, a stalwart champion of the environment, had been closely following for a number of years the first practical applications of this astonishing deep seawater air conditioning technology in Hawaiian buildings.

This revolutionary concept leverages the topography of the seabed using an extremely simply process. The solution was feasible on Bora Bora by virtue of the natural differences in pressure on the water's surface resulting from the fact that Bora Bora is a volcanic island whose walls extend to a depth of 12,500 feet. The air conditioning system deploys a 7,874 foot pipe (the deepest ocean pipe in the world) to a depth of 3,000 feet off the reef of Bora Bora. The pipe pumps ice-cold deep sea water through a titanium heat exchanger, transferring the cold into the fresh water circuit that then powers the air conditioning throughout the hotel.

This is a classic heat exchanger system, except for the fact that the fluorocarbon coolant is replaced by sea water. "The advantage of this system," explains Pierre Lesage, InterContinental regional sales and market director and manager of the chain's four hotels in French Polynesia, "is that it enables us to reduce our air conditioning power consumption by 90% (the equivalent of 2.5 million liters of fuel oil annually). And what's more, this is a zero pollution system that has no environmental impact and is extremely durable, all of which is in keeping with our philosophy. We were granted Green Globe 21 environmental certification two years ago, and we regularly establish eco-teams with a view to making our staff and guests more aware of the characteristics of this still ecologically intact region. As we gathered preliminary water samples for implementation of the air conditioning systems, we also updated our data on the exceptional properties of Bora Bora's deep sea water whose mineral composition is identical to that of blood plasma. We then decided to use this water as a basis for establishing, in partnership with Algotherm (the world's leading provider of marine cosmetics), the Pacific region's number one thalasso/balneotherapy center and spa resort: The Deep Ocean Spa, featuring a line of wellness services and specific wellness products."

Having opened its doors in September of this year, Intercontinental Resort & Thalasso Spa Bora Bora, with Silvio Bion at its helm, is one of French Polynesia's premier hotels, since it consists entirely of bungalows on stilts. Its 80 villas, which measure approximately 1100 square feet each, feature tasteful ethnic decor, are situated between the ocean and the lagoon, and are perched on two claws of a virtual "crab" on a barrier reef at the edge of the beach. Each bungalow is outfitted with two flat-screen TVs, an ADSL connection, two international phone lines and CD and DVD readers. This idyllic setting will undoubtedly prove irresistible for an international corporate clientele that will have at their disposal the 43,000 square foot thalasso therapy center and its palette of exclusive treatments, as well as 24/7 internet access, thus ensuring a sojourn that will allow guests to revel in the pleasures of both body and mind.

A unique pharmacopoeia that centers around the noni plant

Indigenous to Tahiti and a number of other Polynesian islands, the noni plant is known for its exceptional medicinal properties. Originally from Southeast Asia, according to oral legend the noni plant was brought to Polynesia by the first explorers of the islands and is highly coveted for its unique healing properties.

The botanical name of the noni plant is morinda citrifolia (Indian mulberry), and like the coffee tree, it is a member of the Rubiace family. The noni plant, which thrives equally well at sea level and at 2000 feet, is a small evergreen fruit-bearing shrub that has traditionally been used in numerous ways. Rich in vitamin C, it has enabled Polynesians to survive through long periods of famine. In addition, the plant's roots provided a natural coloring agent that was employed as a red and yellow dye for plant fibres used for clothing. And in a less healthful vein, the noni plant's hard green fruit was also a perfect slingshot projectile for warriors.

For many years an integral element of Ra'au, or traditional Tahitian medicine, this sacred medicinal plant heals numerous disorders (among them hypertension, gastric ulcers, sprains, arthritis, drug addiction, and diabetes), so much so that its to some extent contradictory healing properties have for many years made prominent international specialists skeptical about the plant.

Researchers began taking an interest in the noni plant in the 19th century. In the 1930s Paul Pétard, a pharmacologist at Institut Malardé de Papeete, demonstrated that the plant has antibiotic properties. During World War II, U.S. Army researchers stationed on Bora Bora found that the noni plant is an efficacious antidote to poisonous insect bites and stonefish stings. A potent analgesic and anti-hypertensive, noni plant juice is a particularly active antibiotic. All evidence to date indicates that this amazing plant can cure a whole series of diseases.

For the past 15 years, the U.S. based company Morinda has been investigating the various properties the noni plant's fruit, leaves and roots, and the results of the company's studies have brought the plant international renown. Convinced that the noni plant is a genuinely promising substance, Morinda went into high gear in 2005 by opening a new 87,000 square foot production facility on the island of Mataiea that employs 42 persons. But Morinda will be facing stiff competition since a number of pharmaceutical and cosmetics companies are also interested in this miraculous plant, particularly since it may also provide a cure for cancer.

In terms of exports, noni has supplanted coprah (coconut oil), vanilla, pineapple and grapefruit, and in a mere six years has emerged as Polynesia's leading agricultural export, generating revenue of nearly 3 million euros in 2005, compared to 1.7 million euros in 1999. Thus the noni plant is poised to become an inexhaustible resource that could go a long way toward remedying the financial woes of remote Polynesian archipelagos such as Tuamotu and Marquesas.

Having passed through a somewhat sluggish period, the Polynesia economy has been picking up steam since 1997, particularly in response to the 1996 suspension of France's nuclear testing program on the Murorora atoll. Nevertheless, the country's economy is subject to some major structural constraints, most notably a limited domestic market that precludes economies of scale; high labor costs that are a drag on productivity; and a lack of raw materials, necessitating massive imports of intermediate products. Thus Polynesia has reached a crossroads in its development that will require the country to revamp its strategies on several fronts: maintain its development agreements with France; steady the nerves of its capital market partners by restoring institutional stability, and at the same time provide job security at home by restructuring its economic activities and archipelago demographics; and achieve efficient stewardship of its natural resources by tightening up the country's environmental regulations. This may be a delicate balancing act for president Oscar Temaru's government, which has been in office since early last year and is currently undergoing a major social crisis stemming from its failure to institute policies from the outset based on openness and sustainable economic development aimed at expansion that will strengthen Polynesia's autonomy.