Thaindian News

London, Dec 21 (IANS) Trees that produce frankincense, the source of fragrance in incense and perfumes, are doomed due to insect attacks and grazing, a study reveals.

Consequently, the output of the fragrant resin could be halved over the next 15 years, according to a study by ecologists from the Netherlands and Ethiopia.

The tree population could decline by 90 percent in the next 50 years. If fire, grazing and insect attack - the most likely causes of the decline remain unchecked frankincense production could be doomed, warn researchers.

The predictions by researchers are based on large-scale field studies - the first to monitor the fate of the frankincense-producing tree, the Journal of Applied Ecology reported.

The team, led by researcher Frans Bongers of Wageningen University, the Netherlands, studied 13 two-hectare plots near the Blue Nile source in Ethiopia, in area where trees were tapped for frankincense and where they were not.

Frankincense is obtained by tapping various species of Boswellia, a tree that grows in the Horn of Africa and the Arabian peninsula, according to a university statement.

Despite its economic importance incense has been traded globally for thousands of years and little is known about how tapping affects Boswellia populations, said the study.

Over two years the researchers monitored survival, growth and seed production of more than 6,000 Boswellia trees, collecting over 20,000 individual measurements.

“Current management of Boswellia populations is clearly unsustainable. Our models show that within 50 years population of Boswellia will be decimated, and the declining populations mean frankincense production is doomed,” said Bongers.