DEALING WITH ECO-DENIAL

For obvious reasons, the first section of this article was censored before being published in the International Federation of Aromatherapists journal, "Aromatherapy Times", Spring 2006 Vol 1:68

The IFA and other professional aromatherapy bodies continue to promote the use of endangered aromatics such as sandalwood and rosewood, even making it compulsory for aromatherapy schools to include these oils on their syllabuses.

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Since publication of my article “Spotlight on the Trade in Wild Harvested Plants” (first published in 2002), many have written to me in bewilderment. Whilst accepting the validity of the ecological argument, most are stumped for words when confronted with the silver-tongued denials and pass-the-buck tactics adopted by certain botanical suppliers determined to continue trading on the spoils of deforestation.

Of immense concern to ecologically minded students of aromatherapy is the realisation that a number of aromatherapy associations, including organisations that have adopted the accolade ‘holistic’, continue to demand that students study sandalwood and/or rosewood essential oils.

Under current regulations, it would appear that any approved training establishment refusing to include in the core curriculum one or other of these endangered ‘wood oils’ may possibly be barred from membership of the professional body concerned.

There is nothing wrong with studying endangered aromatics for educational purposes. Surely, though, the emphasis of study should be on the ecological and social ramifications? In today's climate of ecological crisis, students need to understand the ethical reasons why the use of such oils is no longer relevant. Above all, the time is well overdue for aromatherapy educators everywhere to start promoting the use of alternative aromatics with similar properties – ideally, essential oils distilled from organically cultivated plants.

The continued promotion of essential oils captured from endangered species for the purpose of ‘holistic’ healing is a contradiction, to say the least: a crime against Nature and humanity, to say the most.

BEFORE CONTINUING WITH THE ARTICLE, HERE IS A COPY OF THE CENSORED VERSION OF PARAGRAPHS 2-5 ABOVE, AS PUBLISHED IN THE IFA JOURNAL. AS I WAS NOT SENT A PROOF COPY OF THE EDITED VERSION FOR APPROVAL, I WAS UNABLE TO REINSTATE THE WORDING.

"Of immense concern to ecologically minded students of aromatherapy is the realisation that a number of educators continue to require students to study sandalwood and/or rosewood essential oils as part of their syllabus. While the study of these 'wood oils' and the trees from which the oils are extracted, is of great interest, educators have a vital role to play in ensuring that students and other users realise that in today's climate of ecological crises the continued use of these 'wood oils', while encouraged in the past, threatens their very future."

IMPORTANT POINTS TO CONSIDER

To the casual reader, the above may seem like a fair summary of what I'd actually written. However, there is no doubt that in editing my article in this way and putting the onus on anonymous 'educators', the IFA is demonstrating the very same pass-the-buck tactics upon which the article is based!

Make no mistake, the IFA as an organisation is itself an 'educator'. Indeed, it plays a powerful role in setting standards for aromatherapy training - including dictating which oils should be studied by IFA approved training courses! As one of the founder members of the IFA myself back in the early 1980s, it's regretable to me that the IFA is unable to face up to direct challenge in the arena of eco-ethics.

THE ARTICLE CONTINUES WITH THE REASONS WHY THE USE OF ESSENTIAL OILS EXTRACTED FROM FELLED WILD FOREST TREES IS A "CRIME AGAINST NATURE AND HUMANITY" - ANOTHER SENTENCE WHICH WAS DEEMED TOO EMOTIVE FOR THE SENSITIVITIES OF THE IFA. YET IT'S NO EXAGGERATION, READ ON...

Indeed, the sandalwood belt in Southern India is burning up due to deforestation and associated prolonged drought, and will have devastating consequences for people, wildlife and the environment for centuries to come.

Meanwhile the remnant cedar forests of the Atlas Mountains in Morocco are dying through advancing desertification. While in the Amazon Basin alone, the forest debris left behind by industrial logging decomposes and releases millions of tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere each year – thus, accelerating global climate change. The latest satellite images show that even selective logging of valuable species such as rosewood and mahogany is causing immense ecological destruction and is cited as the main cause of the Amazon’s worst drought in 40 years.

Following are some of the most commonly used diversion tactics employed by certain essential oil sellers in their misguided belief that the use of sandalwood, rosewood, Atlas cedar (and other endangered wild harvested aromatics) is ecologically sound. Each example of eco-denial is followed by a common sense reply. This will be helpful to anyone dealing with those who denigrate or intimidate through assumed superior knowledge.

“Our sandalwood oil is obtained from sustainably managed plantations.”

Some suppliers are making the same claim for rosewood essential oil without a scrap of supporting evidence. In fact, sandalwood and rosewood cultivation is in its infancy. Although attempts have been made to establish sandalwood plantations in various parts of the world, including Australia, India and the South Pacific, as yet there are no supplies of essential oil coming from plantation grown trees. Likewise, there are no commercial supplies of cultivated rosewood oil, whether from the leaves or heartwood.

The simple reason is that the plantations are still too young! Regarding sandalwood, it will take 30-50 years (much longer in drought stricken regions) for the trees to mature enough in order to produce a commercially viable quantity of essential oil. That is to say, if the cultivated trees will ever be capable of producing an oil of sufficiently high quality to meet the demands of industry. It’s all experimental at this early stage. In the meantime, already endangered trees will continue to be uprooted from the wild mainly for essential oil production. Some experts are predicting that sandalwood and rosewood may even be driven to extinction within our own lifetime.

“Don’t worry, we only source sustainably wild-harvested (or ‘wildcrafted’) supplies of rosewood.” Alternatively, the supplier may claim the same for sandalwood, amyris, Atlas cedar or some other endangered aromatic species.

Again, there is no scientific evidence to support the claim that ancient or primary growth forests can be felled sustainably in order to meet the demands of a global market. No evidence whatsoever.

“I’ve visited the region myself and have seen that the trees are felled sustainably for oil extraction. As you have not visited the country of origin nor spoken to the people on the ground, then you can’t possibly know the truth.”

This is a classic example of not being able to see the forest for the trees! Once again the satellite images are providing us with the holistic viewpoint. The further back we move from the ground, the broader the picture becomes. The images from space prove without doubt that selective logging of useful species is every bit as damaging to the forest as that resulting from clear-felling. Forest fires are raging in newly created selective clearings, resulting in a myriad of knock-on effects to the intricate ecosystem. This contradicts the claims being made by the Forest Stewardship Council and others who abide by the notion that the world’s rainforests are nothing more than a lifeless commodity to be selectively hacked, bartered and sold.

As ecologists confirm, a forest is more than a collection of individual trees: it's a WHOLE living ecosystem, maintained through biodiversity and genetic diversity; through the myriad interactions of trees, plants, fungi, insects, animals, soil, micro-organisms - and the traditional ways of forest peoples. Interestingly, holistic therapists recognise a similar pattern of interrelatedness as expressed through the human mind/body complex. What we know for certain is that the intricate balance of a forest, especially tropical forest, is easily upset or destroyed through the excessive demands of commercial wild harvesting.

“Neither sandalwood nor rosewood is recognized as endangered because they do not appear on any official threatened list such as CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna.”

Whilst claiming to be have carried out a great deal of research into sandalwood and rosewood sustainability, thus implying they are experts on the matter, a surprising number of essential oil suppliers continue to maintain that neither sandalwood (Santalum album) nor rosewood (Aniba rosaeodora) are officially recognised as endangered. For some reason, many continue to turn a blind eye to the prominent entry of both species in the World Conservation Union’s Red List of Threatened Species!

"With oils like rosewood and sandalwood, the governments involved have strict procedures in place to control production. Other industries are far more implicated in the loss of these beautiful trees"

The governments in India and Brazil have chosen to monitor the trade in sandalwood and rosewood themselves respectively. Both countries have refused to allow the intervention of CITES, the UN organization mentioned above whose aim is to prevent the extinction of threatened and endangered species commonly traded around the world.

Rather than repeating everything written in previous articles, suffice it to say it’s well-documented that both India and Brazil are fighting a losing battle against clandestine cutting, illegal distillations and government corruption. There is an alarming decline in stands of sandalwood in India and rosewood species in South America. At the same time, there is continued degradation of entire forest habitats due to human greed and folly.

Even when sandalwood extraction is government certified, the practice is not sustainable by any stretch of the imagination. For tree numbers continue to dwindle with few signs of regeneration due to over-grazing, forest fires and related problems of poor land management. Remember, sustainability is that which can go indefinitely without creating a deficit or any other form of imbalance.

Aromatherapy is supposed to be a caring profession, with many practitioners claiming to provide a gentle, non-invasive treatment in harmony with Nature. Surely, then, the aromatherapy profession should not be implicated in deforestation to any degree AT ALL? Blaming others for the greater crime is the oldest and most unethical shirk in the book.

“Most sandalwood trees are felled for use on funeral pyres and for traditional sandalwood carvings.”

The majority of people in India are impoverished and could never afford the luxury of a sandalwood funeral pyre. Only the bodies of rich dignitaries are cremated on sandalwood, and thus in reality their numbers are few.

It’s well-documented that the excessive global demand for sandalwood oil is the main reason for the decline in sandalwood forests. Indeed, the smuggling and murders associated with the sandalwood trade have occurred whilst securing wood for oil distillation, not funeral pyres! Sandalwood oil is used mainly in perfumery, cosmetics and aromatherapy. The legally obtained ‘lower grade’ wood (i.e. branches with scant oil content) the Indian government allocates to traditional sandalwood carvers.

The smoke pollution hovering over sandalwood forests, which some erroneously attribute to Hindu funeral pyres, is occurring as a result of poor land management – the seasonal burning of the understorey. This is done to encourage new grass growth for grazing animals. Forest fires are destroying sandalwood seed (and many other types of seed) and causing the spread of spike disease, an incurable fungal infection that is killing off many sandalwood trees in Southern India.

“Our Atlas cedar oil comes from a sustainable source in France and is certified by the Soil Association.”

In fact, the wood chips of wild cedar trees felled from the endangered remnant forests of the Atlas Mountains region of Morocco are imported into France for oil distillation. The Soil Association re-certifies the oil as 'organic' from the French organic certification body Ecocert. The shocking truth is just because a wild harvested aromatic is certified as organic by an EU approved organic inspection body, this does not necessarily mean it's from a sustainable source. The Soil Association, Ecocert and others are novices when it comes to understanding the long-term environmental impact caused by selective 'harvesting' of endangered tree species.

“Most of the world's supply of rosewood goes to Japan to make chop sticks.”

Whilst Japan does indeed import huge quantities of tropical timber to be squandered on disposable chop sticks, it's important to realise that a number of tree species are commonly known as 'rosewood'. For example, Dalbergia nigra (from South America) and a number of other Dalbergia specie from India, Africa and other tropical regions of the world. Yes, most species of rosewood are endangered due to their value as hard wood, but most are not aromatic. The aromatic Aniba rosaeodora (and related aromatic species) from South America are felled solely for essential oil production.

The rest of the article published in Aromatherapy Times, Spring 2006 (also a previous article published in the Winter edition, 2005) continues with a host of other excuses gleaned from the Fool's Parsley Prize section of this site.

Click here and scroll down to the Excuses, Excuses section of the page