ENVIRONMENT-UAE: "Perfume of Arabia Tree" Still Endangered

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Meena S Janardhan

DUBAI, Jul 14 2005 (IPS) - When Shakespeare wrote ”All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand” in ‘Macbeth’, he was perhaps unaware of the intoxicating and strong-smelling ‘oudh’ – a heady perfume that is part and parcel of Arab tradition and folklore and a fragrance that defines the very essence of an Arab household.

Shakespeare would have been even less aware that a time would come when the oudh producing tree would be included in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and a system of permits created to record all trade in its wood.

The CITES system, first introduced in 1995 seems to be in need of revision because the demand for oudh is such that existing restrictions have not adequately controlled depletion of stocks.

”We are calling for more effective harvest and trade controls including improved implementation of CITES requirements and better tools for the identification of species in trade,” said James Compton, regional director, TRAFFIC, Southeast Asia.

Traffic is the joint wildlife trade monitoring network of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and works to ensure that trade in wild plants and animals is not a threat to the conservation of nature

Oudh is in fact the bark of the Agarwood tree. Trade in agarwood dates back to 2000 years. Also known as aloeswood, eaglewood and gaharu, agarwood is a highly prized wood and is used primarily for medicine, perfume and incense.

”Agarwood has been used for medicinal purposes for centuries in Ayurvedic, Tibetan and traditional East Asian medicine,” said Compton, an Australian who has spent years studying agarwood and it trail from the jungles of South-east Asia to the souks of the Middle East.

Most of the natural reserves of the tree are now exhausted and the few that are left are in protected plantations. Oudh is imported into Arab countries from the forests of Southeast Asia, especially Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Some imports also come in from the northeastern Indian state of Assam and Bangladesh.

A visitor to the Spice Souk (marketplace) in Dubai will struggle to identify the scents that permeate the very walls, but there is no mistaking the heady and heavy smell of burning ‘oudh’ that emanates from almost every shop in the vicinity.

”This is an age-old tradition that dates back hundreds of years,” said Majid Al Muhairi, a national who shops in the Spice Souk for oudh almost every month. ”The first thing one notices in an Arab home is the fragrance, which emanates from oudh – pieces of wood cut, sliced and polished, then burned to release the scent.”

In Arab homes, oudh is traditionally burnt as wood chips in a brazier so that the aroma can waft through all the rooms, furniture and even clothing.

”It has a very strong smell and often lasts for more than a day even if you have had a bath or changed your clothes,” said Majid. ”There are hundreds of different perfumes in the market today. Youngsters mostly prefer a combination of oudh with a softer perfume, but I need the original smell and am not willing to settle for anything else.”

This strong preference for the oudh has in fact pushed up demand even as supplies are dwindling. Hence prices have risen sharply.

”The Middle East, primarily the Gulf states of the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait, together represent one of the most important centres of demand in the global market. While the agarwood trade volume may seem small when compared to mainstream timber trade figures, it is not small in monetary terms,” said Compton.

”Agarwood chips and segments can sell for several hundred to several thousand dollars per kilogram. The price of oil distilled from agarwood is generally between five and ten thousand US dollars per kilo, but can be significantly more depending on the quality – the darker the colour the higher the quality and hence the price too,” he added.

In Dubai, mid-range agarwood chips sell for a retail price of nearly 1645 dollars a kilo. There are various grades on display and a customer chooses according to his preference and his buying ability.

”Each customer had a specific preference – Arabs buy the best to give as gifts or for personal use,” said Javed, a shopkeeper in the Spice Souk. ”In the early 1980s, prices used to be around 600 dollars a kilo for the highest quality. Now it can go up to over 3500 dollars a kilo. And in spite of the prices, our stocks disappear within no time.”

Incense-making is as old as the history of these lands. The chief substances used as natural herbal incense were resins such as frankincense and myrrh, along with aromatic woods and barks, seeds, roots, herbs and flowers.

Arab incenses most often consist of powdered oudh, rose water, and Joz Al Dyar (a plant with pleasant-smelling fruit).

”Scented oudh is perhaps the most popular of all Arab fragrances. But it is expensive and is nowadays used only on special occasions and can cost almost 85 dollars for a small bottle,” said Javed.

Increasing demand and decreasing supply has a fall-out though – natural reserves of the agarwood tree are fast depleting. Illegal trade and indiscriminate felling of trees has also affected their sustainability.

Agarwood is already rare in the forests of Vietnam, Laos, Burma and Cambodia (Kampuchea). The natural reserves in India, Bangladesh, Thailand or China are totally depleted. The only large trees left are in Western Kampuchea, which have not been touched due to their inaccessibility and the strife in the region. There may also be a few large trees left in the very remote forests of Laos.

The tree alone does not produce fragrant agarwood; there must also be a presence of a certain group of fungi, and the synergy that takes place between these fungi and the tree causes the fragrant compounds to blossom. Moreover only one in five or ten agarwood trees produce oudh.

Many countries are in fact taking to replanting oudh trees in plantations to sustain the trade and meet demand. But the gap between demand and supply is still very wide.

”We (CITES) urge agarwood-exporting countries to address urgent problems related to management, trade controls and research to safeguard the future of this valuable cultural and economic source,” Compton said.