The most valuable wildlife commodity on the planet, and the fight against its extinction ✒️ Big read from cahalmilmo
has established that the UK Border Force, which enforces CITES regulations banning the trade in endangered species, has in the last three years seized nearly 170 consignments of medicinal or health products containing agarwood.
The document continues: “Harvesting from wild trees can involve indiscriminately cutting down trees as external signs a tree has produced agarwood, or the quality of agarwood, are not always visible until cut.” Only the resinous heartwood of the tree that grows in response to the fungal infection counts as “oud” or agarwood. In places such as Malaysia and Indonesia, forest communities have grown skilled at managing their resource sustainably. The Dayaks in Indonesia can pinpoint agarwood by the different sounds produced when knocking the trunk, allowing the resinous growth to be cut out while leaving the rest of the tree to grow.
The value of the global trade in agarwood and derived products is currently put at $6bn-$8bn each year. Conservation experts warn there has been a recent widening of interest in agarwood as an ingredient in high-end beauty products. James Compton, who has studied the trade for UK-based charity, said: “The major change in end-use products since the early 2000s is the rising use of oud as an ingredient in Western-style perfumes and fragrances.”
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