Learn the secrets of the coconut and try some imaginative recipes. The Tree of Life For thousands of years the “tree of life,” the coconut palm, has sustained countless inhabitants of every subtropical coastline around the world. It provides food, drink, building materials, and even fuel, thriving in areas of high salinity where other crops would certainly fail. The coconut played a crucial role in the history of human exploration and dispersal across the tropics, and it continues to play a fundamental role in human societies today. As a portable source of nutrition and water, the coconut was critical for humans to be able to voyage, establish trade routes, and colonize lands in the Pacific Rim, coastal India, Africa, and South America.