THE FRANKINCENSE ROAD IN THE ARABIAN PENINSULA: TREES BLEED TOO!

Source: muhammadsawkekasihku.blogspot.com.es.

By Gundhramns Hammer
February 24, 2014
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Frankincense (Fig. 1), the aromatic resin extracted from some trees of the genus Boswellia (Fig 2), evokes Middle East legends, camel caravans in the desert, Arabian fairy tales, Biblical stories and crusader adventures. 

 

Figure 1. Tears of frankincense or olibanum resin. Source: Wikipedia.

Figure 2. Man slashing Boswellia tree to obtain frankincense. Source: Seeds of Eaden.

This magical tree resin, also known as olibanum resin, has a history spanning over 5,000 years in North Africa, Arabian Peninsula, Middle East and the Far East. 

Frankincense has many uses:

• Religious rituals,
• Medicine,
• Veterinary medicine,
• Perfumery,
• Aromatherapy,
• Psychoactive drug,
• Home purification,
• Personal amulet,
• Ghost and demon repeller,
• Bartering.

Despite declining commerce over the years, frankincense still plays an important role in many cultures. 

Excessive livestock grazing, fire, deforestation and over-exploitation has put at risk the Boswellia forests in Yemen, where the best frankincense comes from.

Trees are like people: They also have a vascular system. 

You cannot go about bleeding trees without expecting heavy damage or death. 

Boswellia papyrifera trees, for example, that are excessively tapped and damaged to extract frankincense produce seeds that have a poor germination rate (16%) as compared to those trees left alone (80%), according to Rijkers et al. (2006).

So, good and strict measures of conservation have to be implemented to save the Boswellia tree ecosystem.

Man has to put himself on the conservation swing and stop being a brute beast. 

To learn more about frankincense, let us watch the following BBC documentary:

The Frankincense Trail - Oman, Yemen and Saudi Arabia

References

Rijkers T., Woldeselassie O., Wessel M. & Bongers F. (2006). The effect of tapping for frankincense on sexual reproduction in Boswellia papyrifera. J. Applied Ecol., 1188-1195.