Concerns of over-harvesting

Concern of over-harvesting

The expansion of international trade in frankincense and myrrh to meet the western aromatherapy market, possible increased use in traditional Chinese medicine and other market demands, may be responsible for reports of over-harvesting of certain Boswellia species in certain areas.

The health of Frankincense trees is highly dependent on the relationship with those harvesting them. Harvesting a tree and gaining value from the gum creates the incentives to nurture and protect the tree. Without receiving adequate value from the resin, the tree may be cut for firewood or charcoal. Three main commercial Frankincense species are harvested by tapping. Too many tapping cuts, without time to heal, can weaken the tree, reduce its reproductive ability and leave it exposed to insects and disease. The long term future of the trees and the communities reliant on the resin for supplementary income, depends on their balanced inter-relationship. What may drive a harvester to make too many cuts? What are the most productive practices traders, suppliers, retailers can adopt to support a healthy nurturing relationship between the harvesters and the trees, as well as support regeneration within existing forests?

Concern of over-harvesting or communities not being able to respond to other pressures on the trees has been raised in a few specific areas. FRAME’s longitudinal research on B. papyrifera found very limited tree regeneration in three northern regions and some regeneration in western Ethiopia. Reports have emerged of overharvesting of B. carteri in some areas of the El Golis mountains in Somaliland, link. Concern has been raised on the status of B. serrata and B. ovalifoliolata in certain areas of India and Sri Lanka. These reports have led to parties in the USA and Sri Lanka initiating an informal working group on Boswellia by the Convention for International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in order to understand the situation in greater depth. Should in-depth study and data collection demonstrate increasing pressure on the trees from increased trade, what is the best course of action to incentivise and support the communities to restore the forests?

As most Boswellia trees and Commiphora myrrha grow in remote insecure areas, accurate current data on the current status of the all 24 Boswellia species in all ranges is hard to ascertain with scientific certainty; a fact that has led to controversy so far in the literature. Implementing voluntary or international level certification can be expensive, labour intensive and challenging for any but the larger businesses. Consumers can usefully focus on buying from large companies who implement third party voluntary certification or other transparent sourcing mechanisms. Imposing international and national level regional governments, often more focused on wildlife trade, could make that divide even greater. For instance, make trading harder for community based organisations and small-scale producers looking to by-pass intermediate traders and receive a better price for sustainably harvesting high quality resin for direct market access. What can support more specific action on particular supply chains from specific species in particular areas and create more transparency and value addition for the different harvesters and communities?

One of GFA’s key purposes is to raise awareness and promote discussion on these complex on-going issues and to encourage key national stakeholders to work together to accurately assess the status of their frankincense tree populations, traditional management practices and international resin/ oil trade in their regions. It can also be useful to share this information with the relevant CITES decision makers at the right time.  GFA will advocate, promote and broadcast innovative solutions to support the communities to regenerate and protect their trees and engage in sustainable harvesting practices. Please do share success stories and news of healthy populations.  To keep our readers up to date, links to relevant CITES documents to date are listed below.