RESOURCES

The AHPA ERB Foundation is sponsoring a supply chain assessment of the myrrh trade to better understand harvesting practices and more directly engage with the people harvesting this important botanical. Read here: https://www.nutritionaloutlook.com/view/understanding-the-myrrh-trade

Myrrh ( Commiphora myrrha ): Supply Chain Assessment, Harvesting Practices, Landscape Management, and Chemical Analysis seeks to address the lack of transparency and understanding of sustainability in the supply chain of myrrh resin, a valuable botanical widely used in herbal products, perfumery, and traditional medicine. Despite its significant market demand, the environmental and social impacts of commercial myrrh trade remain poorly understood. Threats such as over-tapping

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/sep/16/frankincense-trees-extinction-resin-trade-africa-arabia-western-wellness-industry-fragrance

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/17/somaliland-frankincense-industry-women-owned-business

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/07/somaliland-frankincense-female-workers-exploited-abuse

Frankincense is a valuable aromatic resin, used globally for its scent, therapeutic properties, and religious significance. All frankincense is currently harvested from wild Boswellia trees, but recent research has identified serious social and environmental challenges in wild supply chains, including significant population declines in multiple frankincense species. Cultivation of Boswellia trees in commercial plantations could be a possible solution to these challenges, bu

The medicinal plant Boswellia dalzielii is well known and widely used by local communities in West Africa. However, detailed information about this knowledge and its distribution among local people remains poorly documented. We assessed traditional knowledge (TK) regarding the use of B. dalzielii in communities in Burkina Faso. We conducted 160 semi-structured interviews and analyzed the patterns of specific uses and use categories based on the average number of reports per

Frankincense gum resin is a globally traded forest product, likely generating more than $1 billion USD in value annually for its use in perfumery, medicines, and incense. It supports thousands of rural livelihoods in Somalia, Sudan, Ethiopia, India, and several other countries, where it is harvested from Boswellia trees. Recent research indicates unsustainable practices and population declines in both heavily and minimally traded species, prompting a review by the CITES Secr

Frankincense ( Boswellia spp.) resin is an internationally renowned non-timber forest product (NTFP), generating more than $1 billion USD annually for its use in aromatherapy, incenses, perfumery, cosmetics, and medicines. However, many Boswellia species that produce commercially traded frankincense resins grow in arid, resource-poor environments where human conflict and warfare are common, such as the Sahel and the Horn of Africa. Despite this, the impacts of violent confl

Frankincense is an oleo-gum-resin collected from wild Boswellia spp. trees, and widely used in perfumery, cosmetics, aromatherapy, incense, and other industries. Boswellia rivae , growing in Ethiopia, Somalia, and Kenya, is one source of frankincense, but is little-commercialized compared to species such as B. sacra , B. frereana , and B. papyrifera . In this study, we examine the resin essential oil chemistry and harvesting systems of B. rivae in order to evaluate its pote

Would CITES be helpful or harmful to Boswellia species? The answer depends on a series of complexities that are different for each species, and require a high level of care when applying policy tools as powerful as CITES. This chapter analyses these complexities and suggests pathways forward for regulating the frankincense trade. Read more here: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cites-as-a-tool-for-sustainable-development/22CDF8213CA9509172A6FD67AC17050C

For more than 6,000 years, frankincense, the fragrant sap of Boswellia—a genus of shrubs and trees in the Burseraceae family that grows...

Following the 18th meeting (CoP18; Geneva, 2019) where the Conference of the Parties adopted Decisions 18.205 to 18.208 on Boswellia...

Frankincense is a fragrant resin produced by Boswellia species, and has been used for centuries as a perfume, medicine, and incense, and is

During the last 25-30 years the world of frankincense has undergone profound changes.

Title: The Chemical Composition of Single-Tree Boswellia frereana Resin Samples Authors: Stephen Johnson, Anjanette DeCarlo, Prabodh...

In addition to interviews with men, we also conducted focus groups with women sorters who are often the most overlooked and underrepresented

GFA Conference: Our recap video from our March 2021 virtual workshop. This workshop was our way of asking what the most important...

Introduction: Currently most, if not all, of the world's frankincense resin is wild crafted. It is important to recognize that Boswellia...