Sustainable Harvesting of Frankincense Trees in Oman

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Sustainable Harvesting of Frankincense Trees in Oman Sustainable harvesting of Frankincense trees in Oman Sustainable harvesting of Frankincense trees in Oman Final Report December 2014 Principal Researcher: Mohsin Musalim Al-Aamri (Ph.D) Technical Assistant: Badar Musthal Al-Shanfari Sustainable harvesting of Frankincense trees in Oman Acknowledgements By Dr. Mohsin Al Aamri The execution of this project was made possible due to the generous financial support by “HSBC” bank. I express sincere gratitude on the behalf of ESO board and members to HSBC for extending help and support throughout the duration of this project. However, this project was almost impossible without the overwhelming interest and support from ESO. His Highness Sayyid Tarik Shabib Al Said, Patron Environment Society of Oman. Her Highness Sayyida Tania Shabib Al Said President ESO, Executive Director of ESO, Lamees Abdullah Daar. Many thanks to my friend Dr Mehdi Ahmed Jaaffar Vice President ESO who was supporting all along since the project was contemplated, visiting the project in field, and helping out in writing the report. I am also thankful to Badar Al-Shanfari who worked hard with me during the hectic, hot and as well as cold days. I am also thankful to Shamis Al-Masahali and Mumen Al-Masahali for their warm hospitality at the beginning of the project, sharing their knowledge, helping in tree harvesting and selecting the locations. I also thank Ms. Nida El Helou former manager of ESO for her relentless efforts to make this project possible, and Mrs. Maïa Sarrouf Willson, Project Manager of ESO then. Many thanks to Ms. Alexsandra Celini for her help in weather data collecting. Last but not least, I would like to thank my children, Sultan, Tafool, Ahmad and Junaid for their patience, during the project. I remember how sad they were in the week end, when they wanted me to take them somewhere and I say I am busy in the project, and I hope they will understand the importance of volunteering work. ESO-FR-FR 1 2014 i of vii December 2014 Sustainable harvesting of Frankincense trees in Oman TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................... VI 1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 1 2. PROJECT DESCRIPTION ............................................................................................................................ 2 2.1. PROJECT RATIONALE AND STUDY NEED ......................................................................................................... 2 2.2. PROJECT OBJECTIVES ................................................................................................................................. 3 2.3. PROJECT SITE ........................................................................................................................................... 3 2.4. PROJECT ACTIVITIES ................................................................................................................................... 4 2.5. USED TERMINOLOGY .................................................................................................................................. 5 2.6. PROJECT TEAM ......................................................................................................................................... 5 3. FRANKINCENSE OVERVIEW: CHARACTERISTICS, USES AND THREATS ...................................................... 7 3.1. TAXONOMY ............................................................................................................................................. 7 3.2. ECOLOGY AND HABITAT .............................................................................................................................. 7 3.3. DISTRIBUTION & AVAILABILITY .................................................................................................................... 8 3.4. PROPAGATION AND DOMESTICATION ............................................................................................................ 9 3.5. FRANKINCENSE: FROM TREE TO MARKET ..................................................................................................... 10 3.6. MEDICINAL USE ...................................................................................................................................... 12 3.7. THREATS TO THE BOSWELLIA SACRA POPULATION ......................................................................................... 12 a) Over Grazing ...................................................................................................................................... 12 b) Gravel mining ..................................................................................................................................... 13 c) Incorrect Tree Tapping Practices ........................................................................................................ 13 d) Termite and Insects ............................................................................................................................ 14 4. FIELD WORK METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................ 16 4.1. OVERVIEW ............................................................................................................................................. 16 4.2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT FIELDWORK ................................................................................................... 16 a) Tree Tapping: Definition and Concept ................................................................................................ 16 b) Weather Stations ............................................................................................................................... 17 c) Fieldwork Overview ............................................................................................................................ 18 d) Sustainable Harvesting Experiments .................................................................................................. 20 e) Flowering and Seed Experiments ....................................................................................................... 24 5. RESULTS ................................................................................................................................................ 26 5.1. SUSTAINABLE HARVESTING: OLIBANUM YIELD AND TREE SIZE ................................................................................. 26 5.2. SURVIVAL OF BOSWELLIA SACRA ........................................................................................................................ 31 5.3. HEALTH STATUS AFTER FOUR YEARS OF TAPPING ................................................................................................... 31 5.4. YIELD VARIATION DURING CUTTING CYCLE ............................................................................................................ 32 5.5. FLOWERING & SEEDS ...................................................................................................................................... 33 5.6. CLIMATE & AGRO-ECOLOGICAL ZONES ............................................................................................................... 36 a) Climate ............................................................................................................................................... 36 b) Temperature ...................................................................................................................................... 36 c) Relative Humidity ............................................................................................................................... 37 d) Wind Speed ........................................................................................................................................ 37 e) Rainfall ............................................................................................................................................... 37 5.7. SUMMARY OF PRINCIPAL FINDINGS .................................................................................................................... 37 6. RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................................................................ 40 6.1. TREE HARVESTING NORMS ....................................................................................................................... 40 6.2. PILOT OLIBANUM FARM ........................................................................................................................... 41 6.3. MANAGEMENT PLAN ............................................................................................................................... 41 6.4. SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH .............................................................................................................................. 42 6.5. AWARENESS ........................................................................................................................................... 42 7. CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................................... 43 REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................................................
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