Resin-producing trees are endangered throughout their known habitat all across Southeast Asia. The main driving force, which initiated this plantation, was the recognition of unsustainable Aquilaria harvesting in natural forests that resulted in the near extinction of this tree genus in the Philippines.
Trade and harvesting restrictions will be virtually impossible to implement and enforce if no alternative is developed to forest-based harvesting. In addition, both in the short and long-term, a natural resource base needs to be maintained to supply present and future Aquilaria plantations with genetic source material in order to prevent plant disease, maintain diversity, and possibly improve resin production.