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Rosewood Exploitation in the Brazilian Amazon: Options for Sustainable

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Article  in  Economic Botany · January 2004

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ECONOMIC BOTANY
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ROSEWOOD EXPLOITATION IN THE BRAZILIAN AMAZON:

OPTIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION1
PETER H. MAY AND LAURO E. S. BARATA

May, Peter H. (Department of Development, Agriculture and Society, Federal Rural University
of Rio de Janeiro—CPDA/UFRRJ, Av. Presidente Vargas, 417–8o. andar, 20071-003 Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil; email: peter@rebraf.org.br) and Lauro Barata, E.S. (Natural Products Lab-
oratory, Institute of Chemistry, State University of Campinas—UNICAMP, C.P. 6154, 13083-
970 Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil). ROSEWOOD EXPLOITATION IN THE BRAZILIAN AMAZON: OP-
TIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION. Economic Botany 58(2):000–000, 2004. The authors re-
port on ongoing work in the Brazilian Amazon to assess the current and prospective manage-
ment of rosewood (Aniba rosaeodora Ducke) populations threatened by a half-century of
predatory extraction for the valuable essential oil linalool used widely in perfumery. The report
synthesizes prior research on rosewood exploitation and markets and recent research to develop
new essential oil products derived from rosewood leaves and stems. The study suggests alter-
native rosewood production systems, to guide investment in management and certification of
sustainable rosewood oil supplies.

EXPLORAÇÃO DE PAU-ROSA NA AMAZÔNIA BRASILEIRA: OPÇÕES PARA UMA PRODUÇÃO SUSTENT-

ÁVEL. Os autores relatam estudos passados e atualmente em curso referente ao manejo de
populações de Pau-rosa (Aniba rosaeodora Ducke) ameaçadas por meio-século de extração
predatória para a produção de óleo essencial, rico em linalol, extensivamente usado em per-
fumaria. O trabalho sintetiza os resultados de pesquisas sobre a exploração e mercados do
Pau-rosa, fundamentada em entrevistas feitas com representantes governamentais, cientistas
locais, comerciantes e produtores de Pau-rosa. O estudo sugere alternativas para a organi-
zação de um sistema sustentável de produção de Pau-rosa que conduzam ao investimento,
manejo e certificação de fontes sustentáveis de óleo essencial de Pau-rosa.
Key Words: rosewood; Pau-Rosa; Aniba rosaeodora Duckei; Aniba duckei Kosterm.; linal-
ool; Amazon; Brazil; trade; industry; management.

SPECIES DESCRIPTION AND Rosewood trees are found in the vicinity of

DISTRIBUTION
According to the Flora Neotropica (1995),
rosewood comprises two species, both members
of the Lauraceae family, namely Aniba rosaeo-
dora Ducke and A. duckei Kostermans (syn. A.
rosaeodora var. amazonica). These species are
indistinguishable, and the nomenclatures are ac-
cepted as synonymous in current usage. Com-
mon names are rosewood (Eng.), Pau Rosa (Br.),
and Bois de Rose femelle (Fr.). Some disagree-
ments exist as to the exact botanical status of
these species. In Brazil, where most of the re-
search on Aniba has been carried out, some
groups regard A. rosaeodora as a synonym of
A. duckei while others take the opposite view.
1 Received 20 February 2001; accepted 22 Novem-
ber 2003.
Burity Velho, Maués, and the Jamundá and Oya-
poc Rivers in the State of Amazonas, Brazil.
Collections over the past five years by research-
ers at the Faculty of Agronomic Sciences of Pará
(FCAP) and Brazilian Corporation for Agro-pas-
toral Research (EMBRAPA-Amazonas) are
summarized in Fig. 1. Today, harvesting and dis-
tillation operations are limited to the municipal-
ities of Parintins, Rio Madeira, Presidente Fi-
gueiredo, Manicoré, and Maués, although pop-
ulations of Aniba species still remain in other
parts of the Amazon, and, historically, trade
originated in French Guiana and from the former
territory of Amapá and from the state of Pará.
Commercial rosewood oil today is obtained
solely from Brazil, and the only port of export
is that of Manaus in the state of Amazonas.
Aniba species in general are known to have
aromatic characteristics. Due to depletion of ac-

Economic Botany 58(2) pp. 000–000. 2004

q 2004 by The New York Botanical Garden Press, Bronx, NY 10458-5126 U.S.A.
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Fig. 1. Map of rosewood collection and occurrence. Based on Ohashi (1999).
cessible rosewood trees for exploitation, there
may have been some tendency to substitute oth-
er Aniba species, leading to a change in the re-
fractive indices of the oil, which can contain
from 0.7% to 1.2% pure linalool. Field studies
have found that various species are ‘‘confused’’
with rosewood and extracted in its place, wheth-
er purposefully or by accident. Furthermore,
samples derived from oil of distinct populations
have found substantial range in these properties
and in the fragrance of the oil obtained, sug-
gesting substantial genetic variation in the raw
material, and/or adulteration of the oil with other
species of Aniba. This variation has been re-
cently verified through CG-MS (gas chromatog-
raphy-mass spectrometry) analysis of samples of
rosewood leaves obtained from distinct popula-
tions (Barata unpubl. data).
Oil producers themselves recognize two plant
sources but make no attempt to keep the distilled
oil separate. Producers and technicians agree
that the aroma of rosewood oil can vary from
batch to batch, although they disagree on the
reasons for this variation. While producers argue
that buyers mix pure rosewood oil with the in-
ferior synthetic linalool, technicians rely on this
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evidence to infer that the species is nearing ex-
tinction, thus making it necessary for producers
to exploit other species or to adulterate the oil
to meet demand. Several sources suggest that
other species of the genus Aniba are being used
by industry to ‘‘increment’’ their oil sales. In a
producer’s opinion this practice is not wide-
spread. It is possible that other Aniba species are
being used to produce rosewood oil of inferior
quality, but this would not be easily saleable as
pure rosewood, due to the latter’s distinctive
bouquet.
ROSEWOOD OIL PRODUCTION
INDUSTRY IN AMAZONAS
Since the turn of the century, but particularly
between the 1940s and the 1970s, rosewood has
been used for the large-scale production of the
essential oil linalool and of fragrances for the
perfume industry. Indigenous to certain areas of
the Amazon, the sparse occurrence of the spe-
cies as well as predatory conventional exploita-
tion practices, which imply the destruction of the
entire tree, led to its inclusion on the national
endangered species list on April 3, 1992 (IBA-
MA 1992). Based on a series of discussions with
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producers and other local organizations, in May
1998, the Brazilian Institute for Environment
and Natural Resources (IBAMA) promulgated a
new set of regulations, allowing controlled ex-
traction of rosewood from the Amazon to con-
tinue, but required the preparation and approval
of sustainable management plans, and refores-
tation proportionate to extraction (IBAMA
1998).
Negotiations with the industry were founded
in a series of factors that had contributed to the
decline of the industry and of serious threat of
species extinction. The introduction of synthetic
linalool to the market during the 1980s provoked
a marked decrease in rosewood extraction activ-
ities. Today, its importance to the perfume in-
dustry has been significantly reduced when com-
pared to the demand levels of previous decades.
Limited almost exclusively to manual labor, the
extraction of rosewood logs has a low impact on
the overall local ecosystem. However, these ac-
tivities do have a high impact on the local pop-
ulation of the rosewood species.
Rosewood distillation is concentrated today in
Manaus itself, and in the interior cities of Par-
intins, Maués, Presidente Figuereido, and Nova
Aripaunã, all in the state of Amazonas. Only 10
distilleries were in operation in the early 1990s,
and this has declined to six currently operating,
albeit on precarious footing, today. The existing
distilleries range in annual production scale from
20 to 70 barrels each holding 180 kg of oil. Total
estimated annual output is now about 50 t,
which represents only a fraction of that in the
1940s and 1950s (Leite et al. 1999).
The distilleries are usually only active during
a few months of the year, due to a supply chain
that restricts extraction to the rainy season
(Dec.–April) when swollen rivers flood into the
backlands where trunks have been cut during the
dry season (May–Oct.), enabling them to be
transported to market. A ‘‘scout’’ unit of seven
precedes harvesting crews. The scouts often
must penetrate four hours into the forest to lo-
cate increasingly scarce merchantable trees.
These are then marked to define proprietorship.
The harvesting crew itself usually consists of 30
members. Although they may harvest trees over
20 cm dbh (diameter at breast height), typically
only those over 30 cm dbh are actually cut, due
to the higher quality aroma alleged by the in-
dustry obtained from older trees. Producers de-
termine the diameter of the tree based on the
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number of ‘‘palms’’ in circumference, used to
determine purchase price by the industry. Based
on one distiller’s estimate, trees of 4 palms will
yield 1 t of wood; 5 palms—2 t, and 12 palms—
14 t (Zanoni Magaldi pers. comm.). The extract-
ed logs are then cut into pieces of 1 m length,
and carried manually (using a head sling called
a jamanxı́) to the nearest riverbank for transport
to market. Alternatively, mobile distilleries have
been mounted on barges that receive wood di-
rectly from the forest.
Rosewood oil producers typically purchase
logs directly from harvesting crews on the basis
of a prior sale contract, tying up an advance of
50% of the value against receipt of raw material,
although some firms offer no advance payment.
Currently approximately 2000 workers are in-
volved in both the extractive enterprise and pro-
cessing rosewood, a dramatic decline from the
1970s, when the industry employed over 30 000
workers. The processor pays $100/t of rose-
wood, and sells the extracted essential oil (av-
eraging 10 kg t21 rosewood) to the domestic and
international market for an average of $280. Fi-
nancial costs for advances to harvesters (50% of
final purchase price, at monthly interest rates
over 25%), distillery operation costs (fuel—usu-
ally spent rosewood, equipment maintenance,
and so on), direct salaries (about 15% of gross
margin), taxes, transport, export fees, and ad-
ministrative expenses must be deducted from the
gross margin of $180 (64%). Profits are there-
fore unlikely to be considerable. However, the
industry has been able to survive primarily due
to the high price offered in the dwindling market
for pure commercial rosewood oil (averaging
approximately $42 kg21 FOB from 1997 to
1999, SECEX/DECEX 2000), and to lack of in-
vestment in distillery equipment, which is seri-
ously outmoded and inefficient.
TRADE IN ROSEWOOD OIL
Rosewood trade has experienced a long
downward trend since the 1960s, when synthetic
linalool substituted rosewood oil in the lower
grade perfumery market. In the 1970s, rose-
wood’s market share was further eroded by entry
of Chinese Ho (Cinnamon camphora) wood and
leaf oil in international commerce, substituting
for rosewood in mid-range perfumes, cosmetics,
and household products. Today, rosewood essen-
tial oil and its derivatives are only used as a
principal scent in a few top-of-the-line per-
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Fig. 2. Rosewood oil exports, 1937–2003. (Sources: Associação Comercial de Maués, 1997, citing Ohashi;
SECEX/DECEX, various years.)
fumes, and as a component of ‘‘bouquets’’ in a
wider range of scents. Synthetic linalool is wide-
ly available at a price of US$12 kg21, and Ho
oil for $11–14 kg21, thus easily undercutting
rosewood in most fragrance applications.
As a result of this competition and dwindling
supplies, exports, which constituted on average
75% of total rosewood oil production during the
heyday of the industry, have declined. From an
average of 360 t in the period between 1945 and
1974, rosewood oil exports declined sharply
during the 1990s to only 36 t yr21 on average in
the period 1997–1999 and 26 t yr21 in 2000–
2003 (Fig. 2). As a result, average prices are on
the rise (Fig. 3). The rosewood oil export market
is currently less than US$700 000 yr21.
According to destination information (Table
1), exported rosewood oil is principally pur-
chased by United States merchants, accounting
for an average of 63% of total sales in the 1985–
1987 triennium. Other principal buyers in this
period included France (16%) and Switzerland
(13%). In 1997–1999, however, while United
States buyers remained in first place (75%),
Switzerland no longer imported directly, and
France (10%) and the UK (11%) emerged as
principal European buyers. More recently, dur-
ing 2000–2003, the United States remained the
principal buyer, but Belgium reasserted itself as
an important market. The principal Brazilian
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buyer is Firmenich, which purchases rosewood
oil in natura and produces compositions for the
food and cosmetics industry for resale in São
Paulo. Since a share of these compositions is
exported, total exports are greater than the pure
rosewood figures shown in Table 1.
The volume of officially reported exports
serves as a basis for estimating total production,
if it is assumed that approximately one-third of
total supply is destined for local and regional
markets. However, there is some disagreement
in the literature regarding total production vol-
ume: Mitja and Lescure (1996) citing Coppen
(1995), suggest the production level may actu-
ally be closer to 100–130 t yr21.
ROSEWOOD EXTRACTION AND THE
THREAT OF SPECIES EXTINCTION
Rosewood oil of international commerce is
derived from tree trunks through steam distilla-
tion exclusively from chipped wood and bark
derived from Aniba rosaeodora and A. duckei.
These methods imply the destruction of the tree.
To determine the amount of rosewood being
exploited, it is first necessary to consider the es-
sential oil yield obtained. In most of the litera-
ture on the subject, the yield ranges from 0.7%
to 1.2%. Harvesters recognize at least three dis-
tinct types of rosewood, named ‘‘pau-rosa mu-
latinho’’ (dark, dense wood, rich in oil), ‘‘pau-
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Fig. 3. Export volume and value of rosewood essential oil: 1980–2003. Source: SECEX/DECEX, various
years.

rosa itaúba’’ (yellow colored, less dense, aro-
matic) and ‘‘pau-rosa imbaúba’’ (low in essen-
tial oil). Although wood from which distillate
has been extracted is typically used directly in
the boiler as a fuel, it is possible to increase
yields at an industrial level by re-processing
wood from which oil has been extracted, to at-
tain a level of 1.2% oil. However, the industry
commonly applies the average yield of 1%, a
figure that is also accepted in the literature. This
implies an average yield of 10 kg essential oil
t21 of rosewood.
At current production levels estimated by the
industry, of an average 50 t yr21 oil, it would be
necessary to process 5000 t of wood yr21 at a
1% yield. If trees currently harvested average 5
palms in circumference, each providing an esti-
mated 3 t of wood for processing, at this output
level, the number of trees harvested yr21 would
average about 1700. Indeed, IBAMA has ac
cepted an annual rate of extraction of 1000–
2000 trees (IBAMA 1997). The industry sug-
gests that total consumption is only 1000–1500
trees, assuming 3–4 t of wood per tree (Com-
mercial Assoc. of Maués 1997). However, the
industry asserts a need for restraint on extraction

TABLE 1. ROSEWOOD OIL EXPORTS BY DESTINATION: 1985–1987 AND 1997–1999 (METRIC TONS).
SOURCES: 1985: AEZFM (1986, CITED IN CLAY AND CLEMENT 1993); 1986–87: COPPEN 1995; 1997–
1999 AND 2000–2003: SECEX/FUNCEX, VARIOUS YEARS.
1985–1987 1997–1999 2000–2003
Destination average % average % average %

USA 28.3 63% 27 75% 12.5 47.5%

Switzerland 6 13% — — 0.2 0.7%
France 7.3 16% 3.8 10% 4.7 17.8%
Germany 1.3 3% 0.2 0.5% 1.0 3.9%
UK 1 3% 3.9 11% 2.9 10.9%
Netherlands 0.3 1% — — 1.0 3.8%
Belgium — 0.7 2% 4.4 16.8%
Spain 0.7 2% 0.2 0.5% 0.5 1.9%
TOTAL 44.9 100% 35.8 100% 26.3 100%
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of younger trees under 4 palms in circumfer-
ence, indicating that some extraction of younger
trees has occurred. An IBAMA (Brazilian Insti-
tute for Renewable Natural Resources and the
Environment) regulation (Portaria No. 001/98)
prohibits cutting trees smaller than 20 cm dbh.
To consider the implication of this harvesting
rate, this volume at most represented only about
0.03% of total wood extracted in the Amazon in
recent years (e.g., in 1997, 28 million m3 of
hardwood was extracted in the region (FOE/Im-
azon/Imaflora 1999), with an average of about
0.7 t/m3). In terms of its contribution to Amazon
deforestation, therefore, rosewood extraction is
quite minuscule. Evidence reviewed below sug-
gests that the effect of rosewood extraction on
local forest integrity is also low, since individual
trees are dispersed and extraction practices are
of reduced impact. However, it is necessary not
only to consider this industry’s role in Amazon
deforestation, but also to consider the potential
loss in biodiversity resulting from genetic ero-
sion of rosewood itself.
Since the extractive system obtains at most
one marketable mature tree ha21 (.20 cm dbh)
in the regions of highest rosewood occurrence,
this is an extensive practice. Forestry scientists
cite from 27 trees (Mitja and Lescure 1996) to
66 trees (Carvalho, cited by Rosa 1996) ha21
found in native forests, most of which (90%) are
juvenile (Mitja and Lescure 1996). The latter au-
thors found only one tree per 7 ha .10 cm dbh,
and 1 tree ha21 with dbh ,10 cm, with an av-
erage of 1 marketable tree per 3 ha. Although
industrialists claim that from 2–3 trees ha21 may
be found, their estimates are suspect, as their
activities are considered predatory. Under cur-
rent legally required management practices, only
marketable trees may be extracted. We thus con-
clude that the density of rosewood occurrence in
the wild is low.
At current rosewood extraction rates estimat-
ed above, and the range of 1.0 to 0.33 trees per
hectare described in these recent botanical stud-
ies, the industry requires access to an additional
area between 10 000 and 30 000 ha yr21 of for-
est, even at today’s low production levels. Due
to continuous extraction over the past sixty
years, there is little rosewood remaining in eas-
ily exploitable areas up to 2 km from riverbanks
in most of Amazonia. However, researchers at
the Agricultural and Forestry Sciences Faculty
of Pará (FCAP) found there are still considerable
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populations of the species in areas more distant
from streams, and from the existing distillation
industry, such as in the Tapajós and Xingu river
basins.
A variety of different interpretations regarding
the blame for the decline in production and ex-
ports of rosewood oil are given. At one extreme
are environmentalists and technicians at the Bra-
zilian government environmental protection
agency IBAMA, who lay the blame on preda-
tory practices that have decimated the stands
(IBAMA 1997). A purported decline in quality
of oil due in all probability to increased usage
of different species, younger trees, and mixture
with synthetic linalool would attest to this hy-
pothesis.
In marked contrast, rosewood oil producers
swear that the threat of extinction is exaggerat-
ed, and that many of the stands that have been
exploited up to as long as 60 years ago are re-
juvenating naturally, requiring only careful man-
agement. This group, which includes as its
members the last surviving remnants of the in-
dustry based on rosewood, considers the prob-
lem of raw material supply the least of its wor-
ries, in light of the erosion in market share that
has occurred with the rise in synthetic linalool
and linalyl acetate at far more accessible prices.
The industry also lays part of the blame for de-
cline in oil extraction on the industry’s incapac-
ity to advance funds to forest workers during the
spiraling inflation of the late 1980s and early
1990s, which led many of those skilled in iden-
tifying rosewood to abandon this activity for the
goldfields and alternative employment. Due to
the crisis of the industry, few trained forest
crews are now available to resume extractive ac-
tivity.
In the middle ground are scientific organiza-
tions in Belém (FCAP) and Manaus (the Na-
tional Institute for Amazonian Research—INPA)
and the Center for Agroforestry Research of
Amazonas (EMBRAPA-CPAA) whose staff
have recently conducted field studies on rose-
wood (Leite et al. 1999; Mitja and Lescure
1996; Ohasi et al. 1997; Rosa 1996). These sci-
entists found that most of the trees near acces-
sible streams, the access routes of extractivists,
have been decimated, but that many trees are
still standing in the ‘‘terra firma,’’ more than
four hours walking distance from stream banks,
where access is more difficult. Also, younger
trees that have not been exploited in the past,
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since they do not yield enough oil to merit the
attention, may now be coming of age for ex-
traction.
Furthermore, natural regeneration appears to
be occurring under mother trees, which may
characterize rosewood as a climax species. In
general, the extraction of rosewood does not im-
ply destruction of other trees, since extraction is
accomplished manually, and logs are carried out
of the forest by laborers or, in some cases ob-
served by Mitja (pers. comm.), by mini-tractor.
Seedlings are not extracted since they are not
cost-effective or as useful for essential oil, so
there is potential for managed yield over exten-
sive areas. Mitja and Lescure (1996) found
many juvenile plants in a 10 m area surrounding
each mother tree. These findings were echoed by
Rosa (1996) in studies conducted in the Tapajós
National Forest. Nevertheless, the affirmation by
the industry that natural rejuvenation will make
up for declining supplies is hotly contested by
scientists, who argue that there is insufficient ev-
idence to define the potential for rosewood re-
generation. Our field observations suggest that
natural regeneration is indeed occurring, but that
ecological studies are needed to define the
length of appropriate extraction cycles.
ROSEWOOD PLANTATION EXPERIENCE
Rosewood is currently still derived nearly
100% from native stands, increasingly scarce
along tributaries of the Amazon River. Several
attempts to plant rosewood in homogeneous
stands have been made in the past, as we de-
scribe below.
A plantation containing 300 rosewood trees
was established in 1973 at the state forestry sta-
tion of Curuá Una in the Tapajós river valley in
the state of Pará. These are now 30 years old.
Ohashi et al. (1997) and more recently Barata
(BASA 2000) included these trees in biological
and ecological studies, to derive seedlings and
study oil chemical composition and fragrance in
planted specimens. It appears from chemical in-
dications that part of this plantation was estab-
lished using a related Aniba species called ma-
cacaporanga (Aniba fragrans).
Several demonstration and experimental plots
were established beginning in 1992 by foresters
at FCAP in Belém (Coppen 1995; Green et al.
1993; Ohashi et al. 1997; Rosa 1996). About 50
seedlings were planted on the FCAP campus,
and an additional 1000 were planted under dif-
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ferent shade conditions at a research station in
Benfica, on degraded yellow latosols at a site in
the Bragantine zone of eastern Pará, an area out-
side rosewood’s natural occurrence that suffers
periodic dry spells. These plantings, with indi-
viduals that are now aged four to six years, were
carried out as part of a research project on rose-
wood sponsored by the Overseas Development
Administration of the British government
through a technical assistance project entitled
‘‘Evaluation of the Aromatic Plants of Pará
State’’, involving chemists C. Green and J. Cop-
pen, on behalf of the UK Natural Resources In-
stitute, and scientists at the Emı́lio Goeldi Mu-
seum and at FCAP in Belém.
Growth in this stand was slow, having
reached only about 1 m in height after two years,
but attained up to 4 m after four years (personal
observations by Peter May in 1994, and Lauro
Barata in 1997, respectively). Growth in full sun
was very poor at first, with many yellowing and
raquitic plants, while those planted under shade
in alleys within a secondary forest were per-
forming well after four years. In contrast, after
six years, the opposite is true: the trees planted
in the open are flourishing, having reached
heights of 6–7 m with substantial foliage, while
the shaded seedlings are languishing. This evi-
dence reinforces the climax characteristic of this
species.
Another experimental plantation of about 1 ha
was established c. 1970 by scientists at INPA at
the Ducke Forest Reserve near Manaus. As far
as we are aware, no follow-up analysis has been
published on its performance. Early studies by
Alencar et al. (1978, 1981) characterize silvi-
cultural performance of naturally occurring rose-
wood in the same reserve. Studies cited by Vi-
eira (1970) suggest that rosewood trees would
have far more rapid growth under sunlight than
in shade, in agreement with the more recent re-
sults in Benfica (see above). A number of insect
pathogens were identified that endanger silvi-
cultural practice.
Industrialists, responding in part to demands
by the Brazilian government since the 1940s that
rosewood oil producers plant about 9 trees for
each barrel of essential oil produced, have es-
tablished other plantations. Although this param-
eter was not generally adhered to by the indus-
try, some plantations have been established in
Maués, Amazonas. One of these plantations was
initiated in 1994, with 470 seedlings planted on
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a 1 ha plot, and an additional 300 planted on
another of the same size, both on land used for
crop production and then left to regenerate nat-
urally, with a low level of maintenance after
planting rosewood. Recently, a local producer
has established another plantation from 10 000
seedlings. Approximately 3 000 of these are now
in the field under different levels of luminosity
planted both in alleys within the forest, and in
full sunlight, and are developing well. Those
planted under secondary forest are performing
better than those in open sunlight. Under these
conditions, seedlings of 2.5 yr achieved a height
of up to 2.5 m.
In general terms, it can be affirmed that rose-
wood has potential in plantations, but that there
is insufficient knowledge of genetic variation to
assist in selection and yield improvement. Re-
search is needed to correlate oil characteristics
with source material, to guarantee that planta-
tions are undertaken with the best genetic ma-
terial possible. Barata and Ohashi (BASA 2000)
are testing the essential oil characteristics of
most plantations established to date, repeating
the prior analyses (Ohashi et al. 1997) of Curuá
Una sample results and of the demonstration tri-
al on the FCAP campus in Belém carried out
with Curuá Una material. Both of these have
been confirmed to demonstrate significant vari-
ation in the percentage and aroma of the oil,
which reaffirms the chemical variability of the
species.
Production systems organized around planta-
tions could be feasible, but would take several
decades to yield a product currently acceptable
in the market, thus discouraging producers.
POTENTIAL FOR EXTRACTION OF
ESSENTIAL OIL FROM ROSEWOOD
LEAVES
Many scientists have discerned that rosewood
leaves and fine stems also generate an essential
oil rich in linalool (Araújo et al. 1971; Gottlieb
and Mors 1958; Ohashi et al. 1997). None how-
ever has assessed the industrial potential of such
extraction, or assessed the quality of the aroma.
To overcome this lacuna, Barata (BASA 2000)
undertook a comparative analysis to gauge the
influence of environmental features (soil, har-
vesting time, etc.) on the yield and sensorial
quality of the oil. From chromatographic data, it
has been confirmed that planted rosewood pro-
duces essential oil somewhat different from that
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[VOL. 58
of mature rosewood found in nature. In con-
junction with an international fragrance enter-
prise, tests are underway to determine the ac-
ceptability of this oil to the perfumery industry.
The results suggest that by coppicing young in-
dividuals of planted rosewood at most five years
of age, leaves and stems can be obtained to sup-
port an essential oil enterprise (Barata 2001;
Barata and Discola 2002).
As noted above, plantation of rosewood for
extraction of essential oil from wood, while
technically viable, would require an exceedingly
long time horizon before production could com-
mence. If it were to be possible to derive linalool
from leaves and stems, the period could be re-
duced to five years or less, enhancing its attrac-
tiveness to investors. If such plantations could
be established as intercrops with shorter cycle
crops such as cassava or, better yet, other aro-
matic plants, the basis exists for a diversified
community enterprise. For example, in the Jap-
anese colony of Tomé-Açu in southern Pará,
plantings of rosewood within black pepper (Pip-
er) plantations have been reported. Such inter-
cropping reinforces rosewood growth rates due
to the availability of fertilizers used on the pep-
per plants.
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Despite heated debate, local actors are con-
vinced that the future of the industry is threat-
ened by dwindling accessible raw materials and
by increasing pressure from environmental reg-
ulation to avert extinction. Sustainable produc-
tion of essential rosewood oil will require efforts
to strengthen the existing regional industry, as
well as opportunities for plantation production
and the development of new products using
leaves and stems that can be cut without harm-
ing the tree. Concerted action in this direction is
foreseeable, since industrialists and scientists are
now cooperating in an active search for solu-
tions.
The following general steps are suggested as
a program of action to assure sustainable sup-
plies of rosewood oil:
1. Ecological studies to better define the length
of appropriate rotation cycles and manage-
ment systems as a contribution to existent
IBAMA regulations;
2. Certification of sustainingly managed native
rosewood stands, including best practices for
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Wednesday Feb 18 2004 06:25 PM
Allen Press • DTPro System GALLEY 87
2004] MAY AND BARATA: ROSEWOOD EXPLOITATION
natural and artificial regeneration according
to widely recognized environmental princi-
ples, with the direct participation of forest
peoples;
3. Based on promising results from analysis of
the oil derived from leaves and stems of ju-
venile and adult trees, proceed to industrial
testing;
4. Testing of clonal reproduction for fast grow-
ing rosewood trees that produce oil in greater
proportion and better quality in relation to
biomass; and
5. Demonstration trials with improved rose-
wood varieties in agroforestry systems at a
community level.
LITERATURE CITED
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volvimento de árvores nativas em ensaios de es-
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, and V. C. de Araújo. 1981. Incremento anual
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