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Frankincense under threat, says study

Summary

26 December 2011

Researchers in the Netherlands say that frankincense, a significant item in the Christmas story, faces an uncertain future. In the Journal of Applied Ecology, they warned that the production of the fragrant substance could decline by half over the next 15 years.

Reporter

Victoria Gill

religious ceremony 

Frankincense is used in religious ceremonies throughout the world

Report

Frankincense is burned in religious ceremonies throughout the world. The sweet-smelling incense is produced from resin tapped from the Boswellia tree, which grows in the drylands of Africa and the Arabian peninsula.

But this delicate tree is struggling to sustain itself.

The team monitored the survival and growth of more than 6,000 Boswellia trees in Ethiopia. They used the data to model the changing population of the trees and discovered that this was declining dramatically.

Tapping trees for resin doesn't affect their survival at all. Instead, young trees often fail to get established as they're eaten by livestock or pushed out by faster-growing species.

The scientists say that Boswellia plantations should be carefully protected for up to 10 years while the saplings mature. Measures like this could safeguard the future of a product that's been traded since long before the time of the Christmas story.

Victoria Gill