Sandalwood: Unlocking the Mystery of Two Oils (Part Two) Indian Sandalwood

Welcome back to Harvesters’ Corner! Today we continue our dive into the history of Sandalwood, Santalum album. This is a very serious matter, so much so that I decided not to post it yesterday, as I didn’t want anyone to think this was part of an April Fool’s joke. In our last post we indicated that sandalwood had a long history of abuse. Thankfully there are many individuals and governments striving to find modern solutions to ensure sandalwood is able to thrive and become sustainable, rather than becoming extinct on our watch. Join me as we turn the clock way back and take a deeper look into Sandalwood.

parts of the Indian Sandalwood Tree

As mentioned previously, several nations throughout Asia and into Africa used Sandalwood historically. The wood itself was hard enough to preserve designs carved into it and, unlike other perfume woods, the oil did not evaporate quickly so the sculptures, prayer beads, and other products carved into the wood retained their fragrant nature for several years. From Egypt to China, Sandalwood was the desired medium for temples and monasteries, and the wood was embraced by the respective cultures in a wide variety of uses including decorative, religious, and medicinal applications.

China has traditionally been the largest importer of Sandalwood, as many of the country’s religions use the wood for incense and meditative uses. Despite the voracious appetite that China exhibited, early societies practiced a simple form of conservation regarding the harvesting of the trees. Practical experience gathered throughout multiple generations showed that trees harvested before ten years of growth were not as good of an export as older trees were. Over time, a span of twelve years was settled upon for Sandalwood trees to be harvested. (1) This forced growers to reduce the size of the area of land being harvested each year, to ensure that they would have enough trees to harvest in coming years. The twelve-year harvest rule lasted throughout India and southeast Asia up into the middle 1800s, or the beginning of what became known as the Colonial Era.

England takes over India

Various European nations held a strategic dominance of the world’s oceans. Portugal led the way in the early days of the Renaissance. Their dominance gave way to the Spanish and Italians who, in turn, were overtaken by the Dutch. In 1588 England defeated the Spanish Armada and placed the small island nation in a position to challenge their continental rivals. After all, the British reasoned, weren’t British ships better than the Dutch? Why should England drink tea provided by the Dutch East Indies Company, when the British East Indies Company could ship the product more cheaply? After nearly 250 years of fighting, Britain finally took possession of India in 1858, and the new colonial rulers went to work exploiting their new possession.

Forest in India

In all fairness, while there was increased exploitation of Sandalwood during the time when England ruled India, the overharvesting of the tree was already underway elsewhere. Keen entrepreneurs located forests of Sandalwood on several Pacific Islands and ravaged the islands and their local economies as early as the late 1700s, almost six decades before England took over administration of India. One of the island nations affected by the greed for Sandalwood was the Kingdom of Hawaii, a matter which we will look more closely at in our next post. 

In 2014 Ezra Rashkow undertook a long, critical look at the plight of Sandalwood in India. His findings were published in an article titled, “Perfumed the ax that laid it low.” In the article he observed that the primary market historically for the wood was China. The Chinese government, then as now, preferred to export goods in exchange for gold and silver, as opposed to an import/export policy based on mutual benefit. Rashkow highlights this policy in a footnote, where he states, “Less commonly understood is that before the trade in opium rose to its heights in the 1840s, sandalwood was one of the most important commodities that the Chinese were willing to purchase, along with gold and silver.” (2) England was more than willing to supply China with trees as the English struggled to keep the vaults at home filled with currency.

This English-controlled trade continued until shortly after the end of World War II, as India became independent from English rule in 1947. Sadly, history has shown that the floodgates of Sandalwood harvesting opened soon after. Rashkow uncovered documentation showing that the Forestry Department of Karnataka, a state in southern India and a prime growing region for Sandalwood, harvested an average of 480,000 Sandalwood trees a year between 1950 and 1970. (3) In other words, 9.6 million trees were harvested over a twenty-year span following Indian independence!

In 1974 the state of Karnataka undertook a survey to assess the state’s assets. The survey indicated that there were a total of 347,128 Sandalwood trees standing in all of the state’s forests. (4) The findings of this study caused the Sandalwood industry literally shut down overnight. Accusations erupted over who was to blame for the sudden crisis, but it soon became evident that the administrators of the state had only themselves to blame.

Who needs Ivory?

The sudden shutdown of the Sandalwood economy created a new problem, however. There were big markets that still wanted and needed access to Sandalwood products. Western Australia had entered the Sandalwood business in 1840, a few years before England took control of India. The primary form of the tree located in Australia was Santalum spicatum, used primarily as a flavoring in chewing tobacco. The growers in Australia started increasing their holdings by planting batches of Sandalwood (Santalum album) to meet the ever-increasing demand. It was simply not enough, and the sad reality is that by the mid 1970s, smugglers were suddenly able to earn more money cutting down and smuggling trees out of India, than they could poaching elephants for ivory. The Times of India reported in a 2012 article titled “Demise of Sandalwood,” the following statistics of Sandalwood production, highlighting the impact smuggling has:

Hindu sandalwood statue

[G]lobal production of sandalwood is about 4,000 tonne. Officially, India produces about 400 tonne; the unofficial figure is about 2,000 tonne, which is smuggled. Australia produces about 1,800 tonne of the Australian variety; about 350 tonne comes from Timor, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar. The Australian figure of 1,800 is well above its historical average, as it has made major strides in increasing its sandalwood production through plantations in recent years. (5)

As can be seen by the above figures, in 2012 smuggling operations were chopping down three trees illegally for each tree properly harvested. Incidentally, before the 9/11 terror attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C. and the ensuing hunt for Osama bin Laden, the hunt for Koose Veerappan, known as “the Sandalwood Bandit,” was the most costly and largest manhunt in Asia. He was wanted for the murder of more than 120 people, poaching over 2,000 elephants for their ivory, and smuggling several millions of sandalwood trees out of India. Veerappen was finally killed on 18 October 2004 in a police encounter. (6) Sadly, other smugglers have risen to take his place.

Western Australia, as indicated in the above article, has made major strides in Sandalwood production during the last few decades. The farms, or plantations as they are known, have been slowly increasing in size year after year. Their philosophy towards harvesting is very close to the standard set centuries ago, of giving the trees ample time to grow and mature prior to harvesting, thus increasing the quality of the product being brought to the world marketplace.

The conclusion of Rashkow’s article states hold a stark warning. He states, “The long history of colonial overexploitation, bureaucratic mismanagement and industrial scale devastation has reaped its toll on Santalum species the world over. Today’s tough policy choices will determine the tree’s future.” (7) Historic abuses have brought Santalum album to a critical point, and mankind’s greed over the last fifty years hasn’t helped the situation much. Australia is leading the world by example with their plantation system as a modern solution, a means whereby the trees can be brought back to sustainable levels and ensure that this wonderful tree is available for future generations.

Sandalwood Essential Oil

We can show support for modern solutions like the Australian plantations, through purchasing Sandalwood oil. The ever increasing demand provides support for the plantation operators and shows that there is enough need for them to increase the size of their operations. If you are purchasing other Sandalwood products, such as incense, prayer beads, or carved figurines, do your due diligence to ensure that the products you purchase are sourced properly, and are not supporting smuggling operations. The traditional programs run by Co-Impact Sourcing and the Healing Hands Foundations to support Sandalwood growers are likely to have a far-greater impact than normal because, simply put, the future of Sandalwood is our future. This beautiful, fragrant tree is giving us the unique opportunity to make a difference in the world, and actually leave the world a better place for future generations as a result of our care and respect towards this fragile plant.

Join us next time at Harvesters’ Corner, where we will take a look at ‘Iliahi, the species of Sandalwood unique to the Hawaiian Islands, and see the modern solutions in place for the strengthening of that species. Until then, stay safe and enjoy your oils!

Sources:

1. Rashkow, Ezra. “Perfumed the axe that laid it low: The endangerment of sandalwood in southern India.” Montclair State University. 2014, pg 47. Department of History Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works, 20. Online. <https://digitalcommons. montclair.edu/history-facpubs/20> Accessed 2 March 2024. 

2. Ibid, pg. 50, Footnote 29.

3. Ibid. pg. 58.

4. Ibid, pg. 59.

5. Ibid, pg. 50, Footnote 31.

6. Ibid, pg. 66.

7. Ibid, pg. 67.