Summary
26 December 2011
Frankincense is used in religious ceremonies throughout the world
Researchers in the Netherlands say that frankincense, a significant item in the Christmas story, faces an uncertain future. In the Journal of Applied Ecology, they warned that the production of the fragrant substance could decline by half over the next 15 years.
Frankincense is burned in religious ceremonies
throughout the world. The sweet-smelling incense is produced from resin tapped from the Boswellia tree, which grows in the drylands of Africa and the Arabian peninsula.
But this delicate tree is struggling
to sustain itself.
The team monitored the survival and growth of more than
6,000Boswellia trees in Ethiopia. They used the data to
model the changing population of
the trees and discovered that this was declining dramatically.
Tapping trees for resin doesn't affect their survival
at all. Instead, young trees often fail to get established as they're eaten by livestock or pushed out by faster-growing species.
The scientists say that Boswellia plantations should be carefully
protected for up to 10 years while the saplings mature. Measures like this
could safeguard the future of a product that's been traded
since long before the time of the Christmas story.
resin - sticky
substance that runs inside the trunk of trees
drylands - areas
with a small amount of moisture
struggling to sustain
itself - having difficulty in keeping alive
monitored - watched
carefully
to model the changing
population - to make a projection of the number of specimens in
the future
declining - reducing
livestock - farm
animals
pushed out -forced out
of the area
safeguard -protect
traded -bought and
sold
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