We source our Santalum album (Indian Sandalwood) from ethical production in Australia. Known as the king of woods and the liquid gold of essential oil, for thousands of years Sandalwood has been used as a fragrance and ingredient in Cosmetics. Even Cleopatra is said to have known about the antioxidant and moisturising properties of using Sandalwood.
The raw Indian Sandalwood trees grow for 15 years until they reach maturity, when each tree is harvested and processed with care.
Why do we obtain our Sandalwood from Australia?
In 1792, the Sultan of Mysore declared Santalum album trees to be crown property. No commoner could grow sandalwood trees themselves, a ban that would remain in place until 2002. Today, whilst individuals can grow the trees, it is still illegal to cut and harvest the wood from a sandalwood tree unless permission has been granted by the Indian government.
Global supply has dwindled whilst market demand has continued to grow, creating a surge in pricing and an illegal black-market industry. It is estimated that 90% of Indian sandalwood in the marketplace is sourced from illegally harvested wood in India and Indonesia, with much of it obtained from lower quality immature trees. Adulteration is rife with unscrupulous traders combining sandalwood products with other wood types and secretly passing it off as authentic Indian sandalwood.
Poaching and over-harvesting now threaten the survival of a species. Indian Sandalwood is on the verge of extinction, placed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. We source our Sandalwood from Quintis Australia who are proud to have pioneered the establishment of Indian sandalwood plantations to secure this precious species’ future.
