Australian sandalwood fruit. Image: M.Fagg
What do you know about sandalwood?
Australian sandalwood (Santalum spicatum) has been exploited since the 1850s and now there are major concerns that the wild stocks of this once widespread small tree are in serious decline with next to no natural recruitment due to drought, grazing by feral and domestic animals and fires. Australian sandalwood is now considered to be vulnerable to extinction in the wild.
There is evidence that harvesting of wild stocks continues to be problematic.
Can plantation grown Australian sandalwood be the answer?
Listen to this interview with Dr Geoff Woodall, one of the founders of farmed sandalwood to learn more.
Dr Geoff Woodall, Native Plant Agronomist, with one of his cultivated sandalwood trees.
Distribution of Australian sandalwood (S. spicatum). Source: Atlas of Living Australia
Geoff Woodall with a 20 year old ‘farmed’ sandalwood tree.
The Wilderness Society says the new annual sandalwood harvesting quota is six times higher then what is considered a sustainable level.(Supplied: Wilderness Society)
Cleaning harvested sandalwood - (Rhiannon Stevens and Isabel Moussalli)
Sandalwood oil is used in soap, detergents, deodorant, perfume and cosmetics manufacture.