No More Frankincense? What's a Wise Man to do?

According to a recent study documented by Dicovery News on December 22nd, frankincense--the resin best known as a gift from the Magi--has gradually been decreased to a point where it is in serious danger of disappearing. But unlike what overfishing has done to the fish industry, its depletion has been attributed mainly to fires, beetle destruction, and cattle grazing.

Estimates show that in 50 years the supply of frankincense may be as much as 90% less than what it is now. Rick K, who made his comments online, stated his case: "People have been using unsustainable harvest methods on MANY different wild populations for millenia to the degradation and often decimation of the very population of organisms that supported their commerce whether for subsistence or for profit."

Too true. Whether animals and fire or people, we need to protect our resources. See the excerpt below.

Frankincense May Be Doomed
Analysis by Emily Sohn
Thu Dec 22, 2011 03:32 PM ET

Frankincense has a long history as an ingredient in incense and perfumes, with references dating back to ancient Egypt. In the Bible, the Magi brought the fragrant resin as a gift to the baby Jesus, along with gold and myrrh -- and it remains part of the classic Christmas story.

But frankincense, whose smell is sometimes described as sweet or spicy with a mix of lemon and pine, will soon become only a relic of the past if nothing is done to protect the trees that produce it, according to a new study.

Those trees, which belong to a species called Boswellia, grow in the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa. To extract frankincense, people tap adult trees by cutting into their bark, allowing the resin to ooze out and harden so it can be collected.

Previous studies have shown that tapping Boswellia trees can sap out carbohydrates, stunt growth, and reduce the viability of seeds. To assess the long-term effects of those injuries, scientists from the Netherlands and Ethiopia studied more than 6,500 trees and seedlings for two years in a remote region of northwestern Ethiopia.

When the researchers compared data from tapped trees with data from untapped trees, they came up with some discouraging projections. Given the tree’s current rate of decline, they reported in the Journal of Applied Ecology, numbers of frankincense-producing Boswellia could drop in half over the next 15 years. Fifty years from now, there will be 90 percent fewer trees.

To read more, click here.

Image courtesy of DiscoveryNews.com.