Endangered species of plants and their essential oils & resins to boycott - Rosewood, Sandalwood and Frankincense

Yet again I provide another update for the New Age industry to pay serious attention to, and I sadly look at these oils in my collection and feel a sense of sadness over my materialism - another reason not to worry about buying products to affirm your faith.


ROSEWOOD - An endangered species with a violent & corrupt industry history
Apparently rosewood has been an endangered species for decades now, and some articles I've read on the internet state that due to the demand from aromatherapists, this product is still being supplied.  Dalbergia nigra or Brazilian Rosewood, is listed as an endangered species which has a strong, sweet and long lasting smell.


The following information is from a website which begins to talk about the blind demand for Rosewood oil and the roots of its corrupt industry in Brazil:

In mid December 2003 the body of a 27 year old Greenpeace activist was found floating in the Amazon. Emily Craddock was investigating the activities of the illegal loggers operating throughout the Amazon basin. It is believed that she may have fallen overboard. However, as it is believed that loggers had threatened this expedition, investigations are ongoing. It is known that Brazilian campaigners against illegal logging have been threatened with their lives. My respects to Emily and her family, a sad loss to the world at such a young age.

I would just ask those who insist on selling and using rosewood oil to consider this: What you have done is indirectly contribute to the death of the young lady mentioned above. All the excuses the trade come up with about "we only use the sawdust" "we only use the leaves" "we are only tiny users compared to other trades" etc. are hogwash to cover them continuing to trade in endangered species and helping support criminals.

SANDALWOOD AND FRANKINCENSE

Rather than copy and paste the information about the over-harvesting of these plants, I'll direct you straight to the source: 
Aromatherapy School

Please: if you find any articles like this to alert other members of the Wiccan and New Age community, please respond with a link in my comments so that I can do further research.  I'll continue to dig through to see whether there are any more products we ought to look out for.


Love, light & responsibility,
)O( Elspeth.

Rosewood information sources:
Scientific Rosewood names from Wikipedia
Article on Greenpeace activist from Aroma Medical