Documentary | 01 January 2001

In 1989, the landowners of Central Bougainville closed one of the world's largest copper mines that was destroying their land. It remains closed to this day. In response, a blockade was imposed around the island. From scratch, the Bougainvilleans built their own schools, they revived their traditional bush medicines, they used solar and hydro power to generate electricity, but the most fascinating invention was the use of fermented coconut oil as a substitute for fuel. "An Evergreen Island" is a story of courage, survival and persistence - of inventiveness, imagination and creativity on a little-known Pacific island.