Ancient resin still supports North Sumatrans

Ancient resin still supports North Sumatrans

By Diana Parsell

BOGOR, West Java (JP): Once described by Middle Eastern
traders as the "frankincense of Sumatra", benzoin (kemenyan) from
Indonesia has been sold for more than a thousand years in markets
around the world.

The fragrant gum resin, produced by several species of Styrax
trees, is used in incense, perfume and medicine and as a
flavoring agent. Yet despite its long history, the world has
known remarkably little about this interesting forest product.

Since 1996, researchers from several institutions have been
investigating benzoin (ben-zoe-een) production in North Sumatra,
where benzoin "gardens" have been cultivated for at least the
past 200 years. The scientists had heard that benzoin agroforests
could still be found in North Sumatra, but they were surprised by
the extent of that activity.

"When we started exploring the region, we had no idea how
important the production was," said French researcher Esther
Katz. "We actually thought it was much smaller, and we were
surprised to find out that about 100 villages were involved in
it." The scientists believe about 18,000 families, totaling as
many as 100,000 people, in North Sumatra currently benefit from
benzoin income.

The Indonesian and international scientists are working at
several research sites under two projects. The Center for
International Forestry Research (CIFOR) in Bogor is studying how
people change their reliance on various forest products as an
area becomes more developed or other opportunities arise. A
project called FORRESASIA, funded by the European Union, is
analyzing different ways in which farmers produce forest products
and what local conditions -- economic, social and cultural --
lead them to follow a certain approach. The findings should be
useful to development agencies, non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) and communities who want to commercialize a forest product
or expand markets to improve income for local people, but need to
figure out the best strategy for cultivating the product.

Benzoin is an especially interesting case study for the
scientists, said Genevihve Michon, leader of the FORRESASIA
project, which is being managed by the Institute of Research for
Development (formerly ORSTOM) in France.

"It's an outstanding example of true forest product
domestication by farmers for a targeted production, for which
information was really lacking before the project started," she
said.

Most benzoin produced today comes from North Sumatra and Laos.
Researchers Marina Goloubinoff and Mardan Saragih estimate that
North Sumatra now produces 3,000 tons of benzoin annually; about
75 percent is processed through Java and the rest is exported via
Singapore. Sumatran benzoin has suffered in world markets from a
perception it is inferior to the benzoin from Laos. Traders often
mix damar resin and other substances with benzoin, so the quality
varies widely.

Although once brisk, trade in Sumatran benzoin -- which still
closely follows old trading routes -- has been steady but limited
in recent years. Falling prices have led to a considerable
decline in output since the 1970s, which many farmers in North
Sumatra recall as a "Golden Age". Prices and annual production
were high, in part because Styrax trees that many people had
planted to secure land claims during Indonesia's emerging
independence 20 years earlier were then at their peak for
harvesting.

Much of the domestic consumption of kemenyan was for incense
and for benzoin-flavored cigarettes. The traditional cigarettes
are no longer popular, but even industrially manufactured kretek
clove cigarettes are thought to have benzoin as a minor
ingredient.

Long history

Historical accounts indicate that benzoin from Sumatra was
traded by the Chinese as far back as the eighth century. One of
the earliest records of its production came from a European
traveler to Sumatra in 1772, who saw benzoin gardens in the
inland region where Batak people lived. More precise descriptions
were given by Dutch foresters and administrators at the end of
the 19th century. At that time, exotic gums and resins brought
high prices in the international market. Some benzoin farmers
around Palembang became so wealthy they could afford pilgrimages
to Mecca.

In modern times as well, benzoin helped make North Sumatran
farmers wealthier than other farmers. After Indonesia's
independence, Batak families often used benzoin profits to fund
the education of their children, many of whom became prominent
public figures in the new nation. Income from benzoin is still an
important source of money for school fees in many households.

Nonetheless, the researchers found that a growing number of
farmers in North Sumatra are abandoning benzoin cultivation. Some
are shifting to coffee, cinnamon and other more lucrative cash
crops; others lament declining interest by young people.

"Many of the young people now see it as an old-fashioned, has-
been activity," Katz noted.

Yet some families maintain their benzoin trees as a form of
security against hard times or because of tradition. "Some
farmers told us their families have grown benzoin for four or six
or eight generations," said Carmen Garcia, a Ph.D. student at the
University of Madrid who participated in the research.

Most benzoin gardens in North Sumatra today are in forests
colonized by Styrax trees, which usually grow at elevations from
800 to 1,500 meters. Two species of the tree are dominant in the
region. In the past, benzoin trees were often grown in rice field
fallows that were later converted to agroforests.

Symbolic Harvesting

Tapping begins eight years after Styrax trees are planted, and
the resin can be extracted for up to 60 years if done right. The
harvesting is done by farmers -- generally men -- who camp out in
the forest for days at a time, returning to their villages on
weekends. Resin flows from tapped trees for several months each
year and is collected two or three times. Harvesting methods are
still linked with myths, the scientists discovered.

"They think of benzoin trees as women and the resin as her
tears or milk," Katz explained. "Farmers believe they must treat
their wives well before harvests and refrain from coarse language
so the 'lady tree' will produce."

The largest markets today for benzoin are Java, India and
Arabic countries, where it is used widely for religious and
household rituals. In the West, benzoin is burnt in churches, and
some manufacturers use it to fix the aroma of volatile perfumes
or as an ingredient in medicine for respiratory ailments. Yet the
lower cost of synthetic substitutes has led many industrial users
to replace part or all of the natural resin -- posing a risk to
the continued livelihood of thousands of growers and traders.

One encouraging factor is the trend of growing consumer
interest in exotic incense and "natural" products, the scientists
note.

More information about the benzoin industry, which has long
been secretive, also might help widen markets, they suggest.

"Although profit margins are quite small, many people make a
living, although not a fortune, out of this trade," Goloubinoff
said. "Each shareholder has part of the knowledge of the
industry, and more information between the different levels would
help everyone."

The author is a consulting writer-editor at the Center for
International Forestry Research (CIFOR) in Bogor, West Java.