Frankincense, a gift of the magi, is being tapped faster than trees recover
Frankincense is hardened resin bled from Boswellia trees. Harvesters notch the bark two or three times a year, and the last cuts yield the most fragrant tears. About 90 percent of the world's supply now comes from the Horn of Africa, especially communities along the border between Somalia and Ethiopia.
The name comes from Old French franc encens, roughly true or high-quality incense. The Greek word libanos is related to the name of Lebanon, possibly because both derive from a word for white and the spice route passed Mount Lebanon. The older name olibanum grew out of the same root.
Its history runs deep. Egyptian texts mention incense from the land of Punt in the third millennium BCE, and Hatshepsut's mortuary temple shows incense trees being shipped to Thebes. The Book of Exodus prescribes it for the altar of the Tabernacle, and in the Gospel of Matthew it is one of the three gifts, with gold and myrrh, brought to the infant Jesus. Herodotus knew it came from southern Arabia, whose trade reached as far as China; a 13th-century Chinese customs inspector, Zhao Rugua, described how the trunk was notched with a hatchet and the hardened resin shipped east. Oman's ancient ports of Sumhuram and Al-Baleed are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Land of Frankincense.
Thousands of tons still go into church thuribles, perfumes and essential oils each year, but the trees are struggling. Heavily tapped trees produce seeds that sprout only 16% of the time, against more than 80% for untapped trees. Fire, grazing, longhorn beetles and land clearing add to the pressure. A 2019 study predicted a 50% decline within two decades in Boswellia papyrifera, the species behind about two-thirds of production.
Poverty drives much of the overtapping: in the harsh, arid lands where these trees grow, resin is one of few ways to earn money. Clinical research on its medical use remains weak and inconclusive.
Source: Frankincense
