Special session on Frankincense and Myrrh

Report compiled by Sue Canney Davison PhD Pipal Ltd Kenya

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Table of contents

Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 3

Special session ............................................................................................................................................. 3

Introductory remarks ............................................................................................................................... 3

The biochemistry, aromatics and genomics of some Boswellias ................................................................. 3

Harnessing Frankincense’s active components: Gold rush in medicinal chemistry and attempts at unraveling their biosynthesis ................................................................................................................... 3

New Aromatic profiles of frankincense .................................................................................................... 4

Chloroplast genomics of Frankincense (Boswellia sacra) and Myrrh (Commiphora gileadensis and C. foliacea) ................................................................................................................................................... 5

Exploring sustainable Commiphora Myrrha and other Commiphoras. ....................................................... 5

Introduction and Renewal of Production of the Ancient Apharsemon (Commiphora gileadensis) in the Dead Sea Basin ......................................................................................................................................... 5

Sustainable Production of myrrh in pharmaceutical quality .................................................................... 6

Middle Eastern Medicine in the Middle Kingdom: Myrrh in the Bencao Gangmu .................................. 7

The commercial harvesting and future of Boswellias ................................................................................. 8

Keeping frankincense resources: what we need to know and do ............................................................ 8

Frankincense Essential Oils and Sustainability; Lessons from the field ................................................... 9

Pursuit of an Integrated Ethical and Sustainable Sourcing Program for Frankincense and Myrrh Resins: ............................................................................................................................................................... 10

Frankincense conditions conservation and rehabilitation in Dhofar, Sultanate of Oman (Jan 1992 – Dec 2016) ...................................................................................................................................................... 11

A sustainable and ethical way of propagating and distilling the essential oil from the Boswellia sacra. ............................................................................................................................................................... 12

The Frankincense Store .......................................................................................................................... 12

Species specificity, names, regeneration and CITES .............................................................................. 13

FairWild Foundation, transforming trade in Wild collected Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Support of CITES implementation through certification. ......................................................................................... 15

Useful References and internet sites. .................................................................................................... 16

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Introduction Following the 2018 First International Conference on Frankincense and Medicinal Plants held in Muscat, Oman, the WOCMAP VI organizing committee agreed to arrange a special session dedicated to frankincense and myrrh to promote more research and development work on these two important aromatic resins. The session presented the latest findings concerning the botany, biochemistry, production and marketing of frankincense and myrrh. The following morning, a round table discussion was held to critically discuss what steps are needed to improve the long-term environmental and socio-economic sustainability of these products. Given the urgent challenges including responding accurately to the ongoing investigation by CITES, it was agreed to start the process of creating a Global Frankincense Alliance. Special session

Introductory remarks Denzil Philips

Special session organizer

In his Introductory remarks, the session organizer, Denzil Philips contextualized the day as an outcome of five years of previous research and meetings that have demonstrated the need to share the results of new research with wider audiences. Aware of the possible negative impact of increased Frankincense demand, especially essential oils for aromatherapy, Denzil was keen to create the opportunity to initiate new partnerships as well as a Global Alliance for all players to focus on ensuring the future of frankincense and myrrh trees, as well as improve the well-being of the communities who harvest the trees. His impassioned presentation covered the many threats to the different Frankincense species trees across their ranges as well as the historical and current uses of the tree products. He spoke of the possibilities of intentional propagation and hybridization and laid out the core actions that individuals as well as a collaborative alliance can usefully take. The biochemistry, aromatics and genomics of some Boswellias Harnessing Frankincense’s active components: Gold rush in medicinal chemistry and attempts at unraveling

their biosynthesis Ahmed Al-Harrasi, Abdul Latif Khan, Ahmed Al-Rawahi

Professor Ahmed Al Harrasi first shared the extensive scope of his centre’s collaborative research into many Omani Medicinal plants, learning from traditional medicinal uses of Frankincense and the many different aspects of their research into Boswellia including an in-depth sharing of the ongoing growing research into the bioactivity and chemistry of Boswellias and Boswellic acids.1 . He shared their on-going research into the pyrolysis of the resin, looking for different markers to distinguish different species, the role of incensole and incensole acetate and their work on psoriasis. He shared the creation of nanoparticles as a mechanism to deliver Boswellic acids in aqueous skin lotions. He stressed that triterpenoids, in particular Boswellic acids

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are medicinally fascinating because of their superior anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer activities. Although their activity was known for a long time, it was not until recently their potential role as anti-inflammatory leukotriene receptor antagonist was realized. More than one thousand publications have been published on frankincense demonstrating its importance and reviving its historical role in treatment of various chronic diseases. In the essential oil of Boswellia, more than 300 components have been identified, and the resin contains diterpenes (34) and triterpenes (91). Overall, 34 cembranes and verticillanes, 27 ursanes and oleananes, 26 lupanes, 18 Boswellic acids and their derivatives, 11 dammaranes, 9 tirucallic acids, synthetic boswellic acids and 215 synthetic boswellic acids have been reported till date from Boswellia. The scientific, medical and industrial interest on boswellic acids and in particular on AKBA has grown tremendously in the last decade at such an extraordinary pace. He outlined the different in vitro and in vivo pathways and cytotoxic and anti- inflammatory mechanisms of Boswellic acids. The biosynthesis pathway has been sparsely known in the literature for Boswellia, herein, a detailed nomenclature and biosynthesis map of various terpenoids have been made to understand the complexity and nature of Boswellia. He finished his talk by stressing the need for correcting some of the structural issues within the bio- chemistry of different species and a quick in depth demonstration of the different biosynthesis pathways for Boswellic acids, the books published and an invitation to enjoy the beautiful natural diversity and to visit the trees in Oman.

New Aromatic profiles of frankincense Nicolas Baldovini with Jason Eslamieh

This was followed by Nicolas Baldovini sharing his research into the aromatic chemistry of Frankincense resin, and in particular into the hybrids created by Jason Eslamieh. Based in Grasse, Nicholas shared the process of identifying aromatic compounds by superimposing the results of professional olfactory (O) analysts onto the Gas Chromatography (GC) results of the essential oils(GC-O). He shared how this had led to the Albert Vielle, a perfumery company, patenting the synthesizing of olibanic acids as fragrance ingredients.. the acids responsible for the ‘musty old church smell’ of some varieties and species of Frankincense such as Boswellia sacra syn carteri. B.papyrifera and B frereana. Aromatic profiles of some Boswellia species

Boswellia species Average Oil yield

Aromatic description

Boswellia sacra syn carteri 6 -8% Balsamic, resinous, spicy, old church base note Boswellia papyrifera 3.6% Very dusty, aldehydic, green (coriander like), soapy, fruity

(pear), rough. Boswellia neglecta 5.6% Dry woody, pine needles, dusty, warm, floor wax, slightly

camphoraceous Boswellia occulta, methoxydecane type

4-6% Fatty, soap, citrusy

Boswellia socotrana 7.6% Almond, plastic, woody, warm, humid, soapy

Boswellia elongata 7.6% Smoky woody, very waxy, plastic, zest/bitter, church-like base note

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Chloroplast genomics of Frankincense (Boswellia sacra) and Myrrh (Commiphora gileadensis and C. foliacea)

Abdul Latif Khan, Ahmed Al-Harrasi, Ahmed Al-Rawahi, Sajjad Asaf, Arif Khan Abdul Latif continued the in-depth look into the physiology and genomics of Frankincense pointing out that the Frankincense trees are a tree with many benefits being used by many people for multiple reasons, but with few friends. After sharing the biotic and abiotic stresses on the different populations of Boswellia sacra in the different environments in Oman, he shared the transcriptomics and activation of certain genes including the release of jasmonic and salicylic acid and twelve other protective and healing responses to wounding. This understanding has the potential to go a long way to understanding how to promote the healing of the tree after tapping. He continued by sharing how at their research centre in Nizwa they have recently sequenced, annotated and elucidated the gene content, structure, and phylogenetic disposition of a species Boswellia (sacra with @ 43000 genes) and two species of Commiphora (gileadensis and foliacea) for their plastid (cp) genomes. Perhaps a most fascinating titbit was how when comparing genomics at the order level, Boswellia split from cashew about 46 million years ago. The results showed that B. sacra, a keystone species in Oman, revealed a circular genome of 160,543 bp size with 37.61% GC content. The cp genome is a typical quadripartite chloroplast structure with inverted repeats (IRs 26,763 bp) separated by small single copy (SSC; 18,962 bp) and large single copy (LSC; 88,055 bp) regions and the presence of 114 unique genes with 83 protein-coding regions. Similarly, the results revealed that the cp genome sizes of C. gileadensis and C. foliacea, are 160,268 and 160,249 bp, respectively, with classic quadripartite structures that comprises of inverted repeat’s pair. Comparison of these complete cp genomes with C. wightii and B. sacra revealed significant sequence resemblance and comparatively highest deviation in intergenic spacers. The phylo-genomic comparison showed that C. gileadensis and C. foliacea form a single clade with previously reported C. wightii and B. sacra from family Burseraceae. He shared that the university is involved in research projects covering:-

The genetic diversity and single nucleotide polymorphism within and among Boswellia species,

Metabolomic profiling of time-lapse change in resin constituent in response to wound tapping and the influence of climate changes (heat and drought) on the synthesis and production of resin from B sacra,

Establishing the genomic sequencing and genomic resources for valuable Burseraceae species,

The tissue culture and propagation of Boswellia, and

Improving seed germination and the regeneration capacities of Boswellia. Exploring sustainable Commiphora Myrrha and other Commiphoras. Introduction and Renewal of Production of the Ancient Apharsemon (Commiphora gileadensis) in the Dead

Sea Basin Nativ Dudai (ARO Israel) and Guy Erlich (Balm of Gilead Farm Israel)

Nativ Dudai of ARO Israel and Guy Erlich of the Balm of Gilead Farm shared how they have introduced and renewed the production of the ancient apharsemon (Commiphora gileadensis) in the Dead Sea Basin. Apharsemon (syn Balzam or Tzori HaGilead) is a fragrance mentioned in the bible.

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In Judaea, it was grown around the dead sea for about 1500 years and achieved its fame due to is aromatic and medicinal properties. It became extinct in this area many centuries ago. They described an inscription found during an archeological excavation in Ein Gedi revealing a curse on anyone who revealed the secret of the perfume that made the town so wealthy. They reported that today aphasemon is known as Commiphora gileadensis, with the name Balm of Gilead being coined by Linnaeus in 1763. By distilling the essential oil from resin collected from reintroduced germplasm into pilot sites in Almoa and Ein Gilead, the volatile composition of the oils have recently been analyzed and published. They shared the

essential oil composition (Dudai N. et al 2017) and how it changes monthly and seasonally, especially the levels of sabinene. Current research suggests potential applications of the essential oil and extracts for phytotherapy, fragrance and cosmetic products, similar to their usage in historical times. They expect the historical connection to the biblical era to promote new products and tourism.

Sustainable Production of myrrh in pharmaceutical quality

- A medium-sized German pharmaceutical company connects with Ethiopian myrrh collectors - Björn Bradtmöller1, Karl-Heinz Goos1, Maik Kleinwächter1, Silvana Kreye1, Mesfin Mengistu2, Ulrich Müller2,

Katrin Oehlkers2

1Repha GmbH – Biologische Arzneimittel, Alt-Godshorn 87, D-30855 Langenhagen, Germany 2 Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Biodiversity and Forestry Program, Kazanchis, Guinea Conakry Street, Hisham Building 3rd Floor, P.O. Box 100009, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Maik Kleinwächter of Repha GmbH then elaborated on how Repha – Biological Medication has created a project with GIZ to sustainably source Commiphora myrrha resin form the Somali region of Ethiopia. Repha is a family owned mediun sized company based in Hanover, Germany. Since 1959 it has been making and distributing ‘Myrrhinil-Intest’, a mixture of powdered C. myrrha resin, dry chamomile extract and coffee charcoal for gastrointestinal relief. He explained how they test the purity of C. myrrha resin using thin layer chromatography (TLC) and look for any microbial load, heavy metals and pyrrolizidine alkaloids. He shared the challenge of sourcing high quality myrrh with sufficient traceability. He told the story of how Repha has been proactive in sourcing their need for 3 tons of C. myrrha resin per year by creating a project with German German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ), so the cooperatives can sell directly to Repha and get a better price.

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While Repha has been directly involved with the local community establishing a nursery, building a storage facility and registering two cooperatives. The challenges include the remote, isolated and occasionally insecure project site, the high expectations of the collectors and Repha’s limited needs compared with the potential yield in the area. He stressed that a much deeper understanding is needed of the requirements on the buyers and implementation of the Nagoya legislation for resins as plant materials, administered by the Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute in Ethiopia. In conclusion, Repha refuses ABS payments for the trade of commodities, and regards any financial claims as over interpretation of the Nagoya protocol.

Middle Eastern Medicine in the Middle Kingdom: Myrrh in the Bencao Gangmu Sean Bradley

University of Washington As part of the plenary session. Sean Bradley presented a fascinating history of Commiphora myrrha in Traditional Chinese medicine. His research into asian language and literature led him to Li Shizen’s a practicing Physician born in 1508 who took 27 years to compile 54 volumes of the Bencao ganmu published in 1596 containing over 800 references, 276 medical references, over 1800 medical substances and 11,000 recipes. Names reflected were More (Hebrew) Muraa

(Aramaic) Murr (Arabic) Mor (Persian And Myrrh (English). The Chinese characters for Commiphora myrrha sound like mut and mur. Records of Myrrh in Chinese went back to the 5th Century with different botanical explanations across the centuries. Medically it was closely related to breaking up blood stasis and dispersing blood. Different formulas, often including child’s urine and wine were given for healing bones, incisions and postpartum maligned blood. He shared how much we can learn by studying the history of how people have used products over the centuries as Hippocrates also has over 100 citations for myrrh, with more than half for gynaecology and obstetrics.

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The commercial harvesting and future of Boswellias

Keeping frankincense resources: what we need to know and do Dr Frans Bongers and FRAME team

Wageningen University and research The afternoon started with Dr Frans Bongers sharing his understanding of what we need to know and ado to ensure the future of Frankincense based on two decades of in depth work with his ‘FRAME’ team of 9 PhD’s 14 MSc’s and 37 publications at Wageningen University, creating the most in-depth longitudinal study of many different socio economic and botanical aspects of Boswellia papyrifera, mostly in the Tigray, Amhara and Benishangul-Gumuz regions of Ethiopia. Following a quick overview of the uses and species, he shared the challenges of finding up-to-date export figures rather than the decade old previous figures available. Studying the growth and aging patterns of Boswellia papyrifera across 23 sites in Ethiopia, Eritrea and Sudan, the results painted a picture of declining populations with almost no regeneration in the last 50 years. They found the major reasons were the clearing for agricultural land conversion, traditional burning practices, the pressure of livestock grazing and extensive tapping. Social changes in the control of resin production sites and increasing contestation over access, owners, markets and revenues are all playing their part in putting more pressure on the trees. The projected trends from the historical data depict a 15% loss of tree population with a 50% loss of resin production within 15 – 20 years. He presented a series of solutions based on their research findings.

# Issue Detail Solution 1 Land

conversion Agriculture (sesame, cotton, cattle) Mining (gravel) Fire and wood for construction.

Create reserves and parks to protect areas of high genetic variability, mature trees with good future Frankincense Plantations. Provide alternative energy

2 General Denounce land grabbing, follow the money. Increase consumer awareness and pressure.

3 Grazing and fire

Increase in Livestock Fire as a side product of agriculture Fire (before tapping)

Effective fencing. Reduce herd size, control free grazing with set aside areas. Fire breaks. Planting and protecting trees until they are above livestock heights Education and on-site training

4 Tapping Too many deep and rough cuts To many cycles without adequate rest and healing periods.

Reduced numbers of tapping cuts and cycles Develop and promote lower impact tapping practices and systems Rest years every 3rd of 4th year with 5-10 year rest every 20 years. Guidelines for Oman, Somalia/ Somaliland, Ethiopia.

5 Whole chain Management of trees and forests Resin quality and (up) grading Ownership (Land tenure, use rights) Trade standards and regulations

Care with the trees and forest Change collection incentive towards quality Follow the resin and who earns the money (equity and gender) Upgrading in country (e.g. essential oils) Trade control and ‘just’ rules and regulations Ownership (land tenure and use rights) (from company to community concessions?) IUCN Red list - CITES trade arrangements (upcoming) Increase awareness (and pressure) by consumers

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Frans then went on to suggest the needs for a large scale inventory of the main species, in depth analysis of the value networks, alternative production and product pathways through enriching current tree populations, exploring plantations and improved tapping systems as well as to develop sociological and economic policies that benefit the local communities while meeting international demand and balance new medical demand against local use with protected areas. He stressed that integrated research and action is now needed to ensure the sustainable future of the trees.

Frankincense Essential Oils and Sustainability; Lessons from the field Anjanette DeCarlo PhD

Chief Sustainability Officer, Aromatic Plant Research Center Carrying on the theme of establishing sustainable frankincense harvesting in the field, Anjanette de Carlo, Chief sustainability scientist for the aromatic Plant Research Center. She suggested there is Human instability and conflict everywhere these plants grow and raised the same challenges for the trees as Frans Bongers. She elaborated the social impact of unsustainable over harvesting. As part of the solutions, she shared the results of propagation experiments in Somaliland, having more success with cuttings than with seeds. She described the training and engagement with local harvesters in replanting and how in certain areas fed by the sea fog, the cuttings were able to establish in rocks. Most other plantations needed irrigation. She shared the best practices that she and her team have discovered work well in Somaliland with B sacra syn. carterii locally known as Beeyo and Boswellia frereana locally known as Maydi.

B. carterii (Beeyo) B.frereana (Maydi) Age of First Harvest

First tapping at 15 – 40 years old Only tap trees greater than 10cm DBH

First tapping at 15-40 years old Only tap trees greater than 10 cm DBH

Harvesting season

April – October (Xagaa) Harvesting outside season is highly damaging to the trees

September–June (Deyreed) Harvesting outside season is highly damaging to the trees

Resting of the trees

Tap trees for 2 years, then rest for 1 year Not all trees produce good resin If milk does not immediately come out when cut the tree should be rested. If the resin is red the tree should be rested

Tap trees for 2 years, then rest for 1 year Not all trees produce good resin If milk does not immediately come out when cut the tree should be rested. If the resin is red the tree should be rested

Cutting cycles 8-10 cutting cycles First 3-5 cycles produce little resin. High resin production on cycles 6-8 15-20 day intervals

8-12 cutting cycles Best resin is produced in later cycles. 15 – 30 days between cutting cycles

Gathering resin

Resins should be removed at each 15-20 day cutting interval Resins should only be removed when they are no longer sticky Resin should be harvested at each interval

Resins should be removed at each 15-20 day cutting interval Resins should only be removed when they are no longer sticky Resin on the wound should be harvested but resin running down to form tears should be harvested on the final cycle

Number of wounds

Trees should receive 3,6 or 9 cuts depending on size Young trees should not have more than 3 cuts The largest oldest trees should not have more than 10–12 cuts

Trees should receive 3,6 or 9 cuts depending on size Young trees should not have more than 3 cuts The largest oldest trees should not have more than 10–12 cuts

● Poverty trap● Increasing population pressures and encroachment, leading to family feuds over

land management.● Loss of cultural heritage and sense of place● Displacement, reduced resilience to climate change and environmentally displaced

people● Lack of trust and growing animosity towards companies, government, multilaterals,

and NGOs● Increasing Khat addiction● Depression and hopelessness

Social Impacts of Unsustainable Over Harvesting:

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Size of wounds

The first cut should not be bigger than 3cm x 4 cm Each cutting cycle makes the wound slightly larger The final would should not be bigger than 6cm x 10cm

The first cut should not be bigger than 3cm x 4 cm Each cutting cycle makes the wound slightly larger The final would should not be bigger than 6cm x 10cm

Placement of wounds

Wounds should be made in a channel along opposite sides of the trunk only Wounds should be at least 30cm apart At low elevations, wounds should be made on sides opposite winds and sun. At high elevations, wounds should be made on sides facing winds

Wounds should be made in a channel along opposite sides of the trunk only Wounds should be at least 30cm apart

She went on to share APRC’s partnership with the university of Ougadougo and the Ministry of the Environment in Burkina Faso in training female and male harvesters to tap Boswellia dalzieli trees for resin where traditionally the bark has been stripped for medicinal purposes. So far the APRC team have found two distinct chemotypes in the essential oils, one high in alpha pinene and the other high in myrcene. The largest populations of accessible resin trees are presumed to be in Burkina Faso, northern Nigeria and Mali.

Pursuit of an Integrated Ethical and Sustainable Sourcing Program for Frankincense and Myrrh Resins: Successes, Failures/Lessons Learned, and Recommendations for Improvement in

Somalia, Ethiopia, and Oman

Tim Valentiner Vice President, Global Strategic Sourcing

dōTERRA International Tim Valentiner, Vice President of Global Strategic Sourcing shared doTerra’s pursuit of an integrated ethical and sustainable sourcing program for Frankincense and Myrrh resins. As a top seller, doTerra blends Boswellia sacra (Oman), Boswellia sacra syn carterii (Somaliland), Boswellia papyrifera (Ethiopia) and Boswellia frereana (Somaliland) into one standardised Frankincense oil. Without elaborating on the details of doTerra’s current sourcing practices in Somaliland, Tim shared doTerra’s generic co-impact sourcing strategy which aims to create shared value for all stakeholders in the supply chain by being at the source and intentionally implementing environmental stewardship and/or poverty solutions. To help address problems facing Frankincense and Myrrh trees, dōTERRA has heavily invested in research initiatives to better understand the “state of the Boswellia forests” and the unique challenges that different regions and Boswellia species are facing. As APRC’s main client, Tim pointed out that doTerra has funded previous APRC research and are now engaging a satellite imaging partner using complex algorithms to identify Boswellia trees. APRC and doTerra will gather GPS data on individual trees for health monitoring, map quadrants and areas where trees grow for density and regeneration analysis. The satellite information will be supported by trained local teams collecting initial quantitative forest density and tree health data in Somaliland and Ethiopia. These research activities aims to give a comprehensive view of the Boswellia forests in the Cal Madow range. Multiple field expeditions in Somaliland/Somalia, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Oman to collect critical data that has been published in 7 open source, peer reviewed scientific journals. He outlined the challenges for the research teams as the lack of comparative research, discrepancies in the limited amount of data on both the state of the forests and the export data and the changes over time, emphasizing the difficulty in accessing some of these areas and lack of funding. This research has been the basis for recent training for Frankincense harvesters and Frankincense nurseries that have recently been started. He supported the propagation of indigenous and hybrid plants to take the pressure off the wild crafts trees, stressing it may well take time to convince harvesters and land owners to replant the trees and follow best practices. He shared that dōTERRA and many key partners are working

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closely with networks of harvesting communities and resin-sorting warehouses; this allows for improved traceability and transparency of the supply chain. He ended by emphasizing the social progammes doTerra is involved in, in particular a hospital in the Sanaag and delivering 1,5$ of aid during the 2017 drought to enable the harvesters to not overtap the trees. He warned of adulterated Frankincense and how important higher pricing is in order to give back to the harvesters. As lessons learnt Tim listed the ‘complex factors’ which are leading to the decline of Boswellia species such as Increased global demand and over exploitation, chronic instability and poor governance, climate and land use changes, competing interests and values, improper stewardship and harvesting practices. He recommended continued research and comprehensive land reform management programmes are needed to encourage regeneration and assisted regrowth. He shared how doTerra view the supply chains as very complicated and that Organic, Fair for life and FairWild certifications were not enough for doTerra to ensure sustainable supply so they have created their own certification programme to help the supply chains improve and to be part of the solution in the range and supply countries. He reiterated the need for simple harvesting best practices to be implemented. He suggested that governments alone will not be able to be the solution without all stakeholders coming up with and engaging with the solutions, including governments where possible.

Frankincense conditions conservation and rehabilitation in Dhofar, Sultanate of Oman (Jan 1992 – Dec 2016)

Eng. SalahEldin A.M.Agieb Forestry Specialist

Eng SalahEldin A. M Agieb a renowned Boswellia scientist based in Oman then shared his deep and extensive knowledge on the conditions for conservation, cultivation and rehabilitation of Boswellia sacra in Dhofar in Oman. Taking trees from seed to resin, using cuttings and seeds. He has planted at least 40 enclosures collecting many different varieties from across Oman in Dhofar, creating a unique gene bank and propagation programme of Boswellia sacra and other species in the Salalah Arboretum over the last 27 years. The local name is Maghirot and the Arabic name is Shajarat Al luban. After a brief description of the tree, he described its history in Oman where its high quality and priceless value enriched the Kings of Dhofar who controlled the trade. The trees in Oman prefer the arid zone behind the reach of the monsoon rains, but within reach of the cool foggy winds that blow steadily from the South West. The resin from the trees on the seaward facing slopes west of the Salahal coastal plains are graded as a lower quality than that harvested from the trees growing in the rocky gullies and run offs in the dry hinterland gullies, mountains and draining Wadis. He described the four locations of main grades of Hojeri, Najdi, Sharzi and Shabbi. Salah continued to describe the challenges currently facing that need to be urgently addressed to ensure healthy tree populations in Oman in the future. These include:-

The lack of a qualified Institutional body for proper management with protective laws and authorities.

Over grazing pressures from increased livestock, in particular camels.

Civil expansion, roads, industrial and gravelling activities.

The shift away from traditional harvesting groups and practices to non-indigenous harvesters. After a deeply insightful detailed description of the tapping methods, he explained that the actual annual production of Oman Boswellia sacra is not recorded, the latest figures being from the 1990’s, because there

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is no dedicated institution and control points and borders are generally porous both ways, especially with Yemen, another traditional B. sacra producing country. Describing the medicinal properties he shared the maturity and how the trees in the arboretum are ready for tapping having been planted in 2001, demonstrating that manually propagated trees can produce resin if they are treated in a very particular way that he has perfected over the years. Success starts with picking seeds from large healthy mother trees and checking them against insect infection and keeping a close catalogue and planting them out in the covered nursery. Eng. Salah has planted more that 20,000 trees in the field with irrigation systems with more that 70% being ready for tapping. Recent activities include awareness programmes and replanting with school children with the Environmental Society of Oman.

A sustainable and ethical way of propagating and distilling the essential oil from the Boswellia sacra.

Lesson learnt from the Dhofar region of Oman Ashad Chaudry

Salalah Frankincense Oil LLC

Ashad started by emphasizing that while distillation methods are important in creating quality, the quality of essential oils is highly dependent on the quality of the resin. He continued by again sharing the ecosystems within Dhofar that create the different types of resins. He gave the history of the institutional structures that supported the Frankincense trade in Oman until the 1970’s, when the economy became more oil based, leading to a loss of the in-depth traditional knowledge on how different climatic and seasonal conditions on affects the qualities of the resin and optimal harvesting techniques amongst the Omani tribes. He outlined the current institutional structures set up by the Sultan of Oman who issued a decree to establish natural reserves to protect frankincense forests while the Ministry of Agriculture partnered with experts to set up propagation nurseries from seeds and cuttings in Salalah. He shared his own experiences with propagating the plants into plantations. He shared the steam distillation processes in water in a jacketed stainless steel vessel. Steam, which can easily be controlled is then injected into the jacketed vessel until the water in the vessel reaches 60 degrees Celsius when the resin is then added into the vessel. The vessel is then closed and secured and the temperature of the vessel up to 100 degrees. The temperature should not go above 100 degrees. The water and oil steam is then condensed and the oil which floats to the surface is then separated. The whole distillation process take about twelve hours. The yield for Boswellia sacra is between 8 – 11% of essential oil. He urged all stakeholders to set the trees on a sustainable path.

The Frankincense Store Shehbaz Khan

Shebhaz shared how being in WOCMAP was fulfilling a ten year vision of bringing his understanding of the spirituality of Frankincense in this case Omani Boswellia sacra to the world through his unique shop in London, which sells only frankincense. He shared how he will take a 40 kg sack of top quality frankincense and grade it into at least six different colours. The unique process becomes an intense meditation over several hours. He then described his experiences with the unique properties of each of the different colour: black, amber, orange, yellow, white and green and the different mental and physical benefits that accrue

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from burning these different sorted resins. The inspiring and passionate talk brought smiles to everyone’s face for bringing the sacred specialness of these unique historical gifts of nature. After dinner much of the group joined Shehbaz for a powerful live demonstration for the group to experience the smoke of the different coloured resins for themselves, bringing the common love of frankincense and its special qualities to life for the group.

Species specificity, names, regeneration and CITES Sue Canney Davison PhD

The following morning, Sue Canney Davison continued by raising a few questions about the issues of nomenclature, species specificity and CITES. Referring to the display she had created outside she shared Hilary Somerlatte’s ad Sebsebse’s finding that the essential oil of black Boswellia neglecta and Commiphora (C) confusa, raising the issue of ‘What is Frankincense?’ and is Myrrh the resin and oil of C.myrrha or any myrrh like resins such as those of C.kataf, C.holtziana, C.guidotti and others. The questions included:-

Given that local vernacular names like ‘Mirafur’ and ‘Hagar’ can cover at least Boswellia neglecta and Boswellia rivae, as well as many different Commiphoras, when do the local vernacular names and latin botanical names need to be aligned? Who pays for that training with settled or nomadic harvesting communities?

How does harvesting and retailing species specific resins and oils relate to purity, traceability, sustainability and equivalent tree regeneration on the ground?

Can species-specific oils find commercially viable markets or do they confuse the consumers?

If consumers are being encouraged to use the resins and oils in skincare, aromatherapy or sometimes ingest resins, oils or hydrosols, does it matter if the trade calls all species and blends ‘Frankincense’ or ‘Myrrh’ even if they have very different constituents as well as aromatic and medicinal properties?

Sue then shared the decisions that the plants committee of the CITES reached in August 2019 CoP 18 DOC 66 and Com1.Rec.6 18.AA a) biological data on Boswellia species, including population size, distribution, status and population trends, identification information, and its role in the ecosystem in which it occurs. 18.DD Range States and Parties involved in management, propagation, or trade of Boswellia species are encouraged to provide information regarding the status, management, and trade in Boswellia species to the Secretariat, as requested in Decision 18.AA. She then raised the following issues in order to lead into the open discussion

Initiated by the USA and Ceylon, the investigations will focus on the impact of international trade on tree survival.

There is no CITES research funding, nevertheless those sustainably managing their Boswellias also now need to prove equivalent tree regeneration with independent scientific data.

The plant committee meets every year, the next CoP is 2021.

When sufficient data is gathered, the appointed team will determine listing in Appendix 11, 111 or not.

Stakeholders can work with the scientific and management nationally appointed CITES focal points.

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Given the geo-political, trade and environmental realities can range countries accurately measure the volumes and impact of international trade, distinct from all other local challenges, across each Boswellia species in two years?

What will the impact of an Appendix 11 listing be?

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FairWild Foundation, transforming trade in Wild collected Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Support of CITES implementation through certification.

Elisabeth Ruegg Board member of the Fairwild Foundation

Fortunately Elizabeth Ruegg , a board member from the FairWild Foundation was participating and agreed to share her understanding of the CITES situation. Her presentation shared on-going research programmes to investigate how voluntary certification standards such as FairWild could support (but not replace) CITES implementation for those Medical and Aromatic Plants listed under Appendix 11 and how implementing standards and certification could maybe prevent listing. She made the following points in summary: -

CITES does not recommend any particular certification to replace CITES export/import permit, but we have work and engagement ongoing to explore (and convince particular government agencies) where FairWild certification of CITES Appendix II listed species can ‘ease’, ‘reduce time’ etc. of getting CITES permits. This is generally positive so far, and we need case-studies (none so far).

TRAFFIC has an ongoing project in Nepal on Jatamansi (CITES App II listed) to test FairWild certification for CITES listed spp.

Frankincense Boswellia spp is NOT CITES listed, but was identified as very high priority to encourage FairWild certification, as compliance with the credible management scheme would allow making an argument about management regime in place.

She shared how TRAFFIC is working with other partners to do independent studies on Frankincense that would support further discussions in CITES – summary of what’s proposed is here: https://cites.org/sites/default/files/eng/cop/18/inf/E-CoP18-Inf-053.pdf The group then discussed what actions this group could take to support further research into and assessment of the current status of Boswellia trees in their indigenous ranges Issues raised included:- That CITES and this group are both deeply concerned about the sustainable future of Boswellia trees and in that regard have a common intent and purpose. Nevertheless there are examples of where the good intentions of CITES have led to unintended consequences, such as the example of many similar species being listed to prevent trade in Agarwood and the in depth case study of the Aloe council of South Africa needing to be formed and do in depth research in order to delist Aloe ferox which was not threatened, nevertheless the ban on trade in products led to a stigma to not use the product and a loss of livelihoods for thousands of small holders reliant on the extra income. With regard to Somaliland, doTerra shared that they are pursuing their espoused values to go to source and know the impact of their sourcing in Somaliland, working with a geodata group in the UK using

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satellite imaging and an on the ground team. Nevertheless others from that region stated that they have been harvesting sustainably in the region for decades and doTerra’s concerns about their sourcing do not relate to their trees and areas. Similarly Elisabeth Ruegg mentioned that she has heard some people saying some Boswellias face an urgent extinction threat and others that they do not. This raises the issues that there needs to be a coordinated effort to gain scientific data on the status of each Boswellia species in each of their ranges within the next two years. The group appreciated the sharing of knowledge, information, partnerships and discussion that this special session had created and asked the facilitators, Sue Canney Davison and Denzil Philips to act as interim coordinators of a Frankincense Alliance to continue sharing information and some of the participants signed up their names and an informal WhatsApp group was created. For further information contact Sue Canney Davison PhD sue@pipal.com and Denzil Philips l.denzilphillips@gmail.com

Useful References and Internet sites. Al-Harrasi A et al (2019) Chemistry and Bioactivity of Boswellic Acids and other terpenoids of the Genus Boswellia. Elsevier Publishers. Al-Harrasi A. et al (2019) Biology of the Genus Boswellia Springer (Kindle version on Amazon) Bongers, F., Groenendijk, P., Bekele, T. et al. (2019) Frankincense in peril. Nat Sustain 2, 602–610 doi:10.1038/s41893-019-0322-2 Bongers F. et al. (2013) https://www.wur.nl/en/show/Frankincense-tree-has-not-regenerated-for-the-last-half-century.htm and his work with many PhD’s in Ethiopia on different aspects of Boswellia papyrifera sustainability. A list of his publications is available on the Wageningen website. Cunningham A.B. et al (2018) ‘Rising trade, declining stocks: the Global Gugul (Commiphora wightii) Trade’ Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 223 Pp 22–32 De Carlo A et al (2018) Chemical variation in essential oils from the Oleo-gum resin of Boswellia Carteri : A preliminary investigation. Chemistry and Biodiversity Vol 15 (6) pp.e. 1800047 A guide n sustainable harvesting can be found at: https://aromaticplant.org/assets/species/best-practices2018revision.pdf Eslamieh J. (2017) The Genus Boswellia: preservation through horticulture Published by ABM books. Eslamieh J. (2011) Cultivation of Boswellia: sacred trees of Frankincense Published by ABM books Eslamieh J. (2016) The Genus Commiphora: preservation through horticulture. Published by ABM books Available at http://jason-eslamieh.com/store.html Gillett J.B. (1991) ‘Burseraceae’ in Flora of Tropical East Africa published on behalf of East African Governments at Lew Gardens. Ed. Polhill R.M. Kahn A.L. et at (2017) The First Chloroplast Genome Sequence of Boswellia sacra, a Resin-Producing Plant in Oman Plos One: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0169794 Traffic & BfN. (2019) Voluntary certification standards and the implementation of CITES or trade in Medicinal and Aromatic plant species https://www.traffic.org/news/making-cites-work-for-wild-medicinal-and-aromatic-plants/ https://www.traffic.org/site/assets/files/11798/cites-infdoc-maps-vfinal-web.pdf Includes a short summary of what CITES actually requires: https://cites.org/sites/default/files/eng/cop/18/inf/E-CoP18-Inf-036.pdf The case studies and work of the Aloe ferox council of South Africa can be found at: http://www.aloesa.co.za and https://www.iccs.org.uk/wp-content/thesis/consci/2009/Melin.pdf A series of articles have been published by some of the speakers in Perfumer and Flavorist magazine in 2019