Store offers frankincense-infused candles, lotions, and essential oils. It must be replenished every day because of its high demand. However, their clients shouldn’t assume that it is always available: According to a study, frankincense might not be around for much longer. published in Nature Sustainability.

“There was alarm when I first mentioned that frankincense was in danger, stated Frans Bongers, the study’s principal investigator was an ecologist from Wageningen University and Research in the Netherlands. Catholic clergy and key suppliers were among the many persons who enquired about it, as stated by the speaker.

Dr. Bongers and associates conducted surveys of Boswellia papyrifera, the plant that produces the majority of the world’s frankincense, in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Darfur to ascertain its state. The majority of the trees hadn’t given birth to a young tree in fifty years and were elderly and dying. Models predicted that populations would collapse in the absence of intervention. Similar dangers are posed to other Boswellia species.

They discovered that there were too many people. They enable livestock that consumes saplings to graze in forests while burning forests for agricultural purposes. The poor tree tappers who rely on frankincense for revenue and make a pitiful percentage of it have been encouraged by rising demand to take as much resin as they can in a short period of time.

Consequently, trees that have been overharvested become feeble, prey to pests, and die before a new generation can take their place. Even though mature trees produce a lot of seeds, researchers hardly ever discovered any new saplings or even mature trees. Others are too frail to generate an adequate quantity of high-quality seeds.

Still, Dr. Bonger insisted that there is hope. By adding more trees, quitting burning, and erecting fences to keep out cattle, populations can be restored. He stated that international trade should be restrained and sustainable tapping regulations should be developed, propagated, and implemented.

To prevent overharvesting, buyers at all points in the supply chain should prioritize quality and sustainable harvesting over quantity. And customers can keep requesting environmentally friendly, socially responsible goods.

A University of Vermont ecologist who wasn’t part in the study, has experience with frankincense from her work in Somaliland. To relieve strain on forests, she advises empowering landowners and establishing plantations.

Oman already has plantations, and she has also established nurseries in Somaliland with trees that will soon be available for sponsorship. She said that preserving these uncommon trees will safeguard their imperiled habitat.