Probably no other tree species in the country has had such an over-arching influence on the Indian civilization as sandal (Santalum album Linn). For thousands of years now, this small and stumpy tree has been regarded as a royal tree. Right from the ages of the greatest Hindu epics, the Ramayana and Mahabharata to Kautilya’s Arthashastra, mention of sandal has been made in the most eulogizing terms. Palliscriptures and Buddhists works dating before the Christian era have also referred to sandal in great detail. Even Panchatantra (before 5th century A.D.) states that sandal flourishes only in the Malayan region in India.

India is among the chief exporters of sandalwood and oil in the world. The state of Karnataka accounts for more than 70% of the sandal exported from the country. Indian sandalwood oil is considered to be unique and is preferred for the preparation of top-class and sophisticated perfumes, formulations, flavors, cosmetics, toiletries, beauty aids and in medicines.

However, the glorious past of the tree seems to be increasingly threatened. Indiscriminate harvesting and rampant poaching of this tree especially in the states of south India (Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala) have left the once luxuriant stands of sandal in shambles with trees sparsely distributed and rarely attaining large girth classes. 

The worst affected by the shortage are the traditional craftsmen; not only are they losing their hereditary sources of income, but also the skills associated with the craft.

Genetic loss

While the above concerns are quite disturbing, a far more important but less realized problem is the loss of the precious genetic resources of sandal. Valuable germplasm of sandal that have evolved over millions of years are being obliterated recklessly, and thus fore-closing any possibility of using them in the future. It is unfortunate that there are but few national-level plans to attend to the conservation and management of sandal genetic resources of the country.

The lack of basic information on the extent of natural genetic variability of sandal populations has been a major handicap in formulating conservation plans. Generating genetic diversity maps of economically important species, such as sandal, could lead to the identification of ‘hot-spots’ of genetic variability that can be targeted for efficient conservation and sustainable utilization of these genetic resources.

An attempt has also been made by the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore (UAS) and the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (Atree), a non-profit organization also based in Bangalore, to map and identify ‘hot-spots’ of genetic variability of sandal at which effective conservation efforts can be concentrated.
Some of the basic metabolic enzymes of sandal trees (over 900 trees) from 19 study sites in the four southern states of India (Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala) were analyzed. The analysis indicated that populations in the Deccan plateau are richest and genetically more diverse, compared to the Western and Eastern Ghats populations.

Study by UAS, Atree

Except for three or four populations from the Deccan Plateau, all other sandal populations were found to suffer from genetic diversity deficiency, probably suggesting that gene flow and mating opportunities might have been constrained in small fragmented populations or in populations with sparse distribution of the trees.

Infact, the study highlights a strong correlation between the lack in genetic diversity with that of the poor population density of sandalwood trees in south India. The consequences of loss in genetic diversity can drastically reduce the fitness of the sandal population in terms of reduced reproductive performance, increase susceptibility to various pandemic diseases and to various environmental (biotic and abiotic) stresses which could eventually lead to local extinction of a species.

Besides this, the loss could also halt the efforts in genetically improving the sandal trees for their heartwood and oil content.

In Karnataka, the nature of prevalent laws related to sandal has affected the natural regeneration of sandal trees. As per the present laws the person in whose premises the sandal tree is growing is held responsible for the maintenance and protection of that tree (Section 85 of "The Karnataka Forest Act", 1963).

Penalties and laws

The penalties associated with the violation are so severe that many people prefer to quietly uproot and destroy a sapling of sandal, if by chance it comes up in their premises, rather than becoming vulnerable to the responsibilities and penalties associated with its protection and maintenance.

Absence of uniform laws (stringent rules laid by the Karnataka state government and liberalization of laws in the neighboring states) for sandal trade on one hand and ever increasing demand, domestic as well as international, for sandalwood and its products on the other has led to the exploitation of the available natural resources. Immature trees have been recklessly cut down in their pristine natural habitats and there are hardly any mature trees left for genetic exchange to occur naturally. Thus, seedlings, saplings and immature trees that would have generated genetic variability over the generations have been destroyed.

The studies carried out by UAS and ATREE team perhaps represents one of the few efforts in India to map the genetic diversity of sandal trees.

The valuable information generated from this research would enable the Indian natural resource policy makers and managers to make sound decisions on the best ways to effectively preserve sandal genetic resources. This kind of study, to understand the levels of threat and to develop genetic diversity maps, can also be carried out for other economically important and threatened tree species, in the country, for their conservation and genetic improvement as well.

Loss of sandalwood

Data collated by the scientific researchers at the UAS, Bangalore and Atree, over the last 53 years suggest that there has been approximately 80% decline in the quantity of sandalwood extracted from the state of Karnataka.
Between 1952 and 1973, the average annual extraction of sandal was approximately 2,276 tonnes while during 1974–2004, the quantity extracted decreased to 1,144 tonnes. These figures probably reflect the dwindling resource base of sandal. Perhaps this decline in extraction has led to an increase in the value of the sandalwood from Rs. 100,000/tonne in 1990 to Rs. 2,700,000/tonne in 2005.

Apart from extraction in natural areas, illicit felling and smuggling has been another major threat to the trees.

M. Nageswara Rao is a scientist in the Citrus Research and Education Center at the University of Florida, USA. K N Ganeshaiah and R Uma Shaanker are Professors’ at UAS, Bangalore