Category: Agarwood Market

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‘Liquid gold’ rush endangers Region 8 forest: DENR

EXPENSIVE WOOD. Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Regional Director Crizaldy Barcelo on Thursday (September 26, 2019) shows a piece of wood from Lapnisan tree cut by poachers in Southern Leyte in search of the expensive agarwood. In the country, the first class agarwood is traded at PHP750,000 per kilogram.

TACLOBAN CITY — The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has expressed concern over indiscriminate cutting of trees in Eastern Visayas (Region 8)  in search of agarwood, one of the world’s most expensive natural raw material.

DENR Regional Director Crizaldy Barcelo said some traders from Mindanao have been coming to the region, expressing their intention to buy agarwood — sometimes described as liquid gold — extracted from host trees locally known as Lapnisan and Lanete.

“In the Philippines, we don’t have technologies to find out if the host tree has agarwood. This lucrative trade resulted in indiscriminate poaching of potential host trees,” Barcelo told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Thursday.

The DENR official warned those planning to cut Lapnisan and Lanete trees that they will face charges for violation of the Revised Forestry Code of the Philippines and Republic Act 9147 or the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act.

From June to early August this year, authorities have already confiscated 13.58 kilograms of agarwood with an estimated value of PHP1.33 million. Several claimants have been facing charges for this illegal trade.

The team from DENR, police, and military seized expensive forest products in Abuyog, Leyte; Silago, Southern Leyte; and Babatngon, Leyte.

On August 27, the DENR regional office here formed the Agarwood Watch and Response Team to formulate procedures and implement suitable courses of action to address relevant issues from the arrest of violators, administrative adjudication, filing and disposition of cases.

“We asked our enforcement team in Samar and Biliran provinces to be on alert because we received reports of plans to expand agarwood search in other provinces of the region,” Barcelo added.

“People in the communities are tempted to engage in this illegal activity since agar is the most expensive wood in the world and considered as liquid gold.

”In the country, the first class agarwood is traded at PHP750,000 per kilogram. The resin-embedded wood is valued in Arabic-middle eastern culture for its distinctive fragrance and used for incense and perfumes.

Agarwood is a fragrant dark resinous wood and is used as incense, perfume ingredient, and also in small carvings. Agarwood forms when such trees as Lapnisan and Lanete become infected with a type of mold.

Original news item is on this link https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1081546

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What is Agarwood and Oud Oil?

Agarwood is the resinous heartwood that comes from the Aquilaria tree. The Aquilaria tree is a fast-growing subtropical forest tree that is endemic in the Philippines.

When Agarwood is distilled into an oil, it produces one of the most valuable raw commodities in the world – Agarwood tree oil also known as “OUD OIL”. Oud Oil is the key ingredient in some of the most expensive fragrances in the world. Top name brands like Versace, Calvin Klein, Hugo Boss to name a few, all have premium fragrance lines that feature Oud Oil. Due to its high demand and limited supply, high grade Oud Oil has sold for over USD 50,000 per kilogram.

The current global market for “Oud Oil” and other related Agarwood products is over USD 12 Billion Annually and is growing rapidly. The global fragrance industry is by far the major buyer of Oud Oil and global agarwood and oud oil sales are expected to exceed US$ 36 billion by 2030.

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DENR Policies on Tree Registration, Harvesting, Transport and Marketing

  1. Tree Registration (DENR Memorandum Circular No. 99-20).
    1. Submission of documents for registration to the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office
      (CENRO). As per stipulated in the DENR Memorandum Circular No. 97-09, the following documents are
      needed:
      1. Letter of application/intent
      2. Certified photocopy of either original land title, transfer certificate of title, certificate of land ownership
        award or tax declaration of untitled A and D lands
      3. Certification of tree plantation ownership from the Barangay Chairman or Chief Executive of the
        Municipality/City
      4. Picture of the tree plantation
      5. Sketch map and plantation records
      6. In any cases, where the applicant/tree farmer is not the sole owner of the land, an authorization to do so
        from the co-owner shall be secured
  2. Inspection by CENRO personnel (DENR Memorandum Circular 97-09)
    1. A CENRO staff will inspect your private tree plantation to conduct assessment and evaluation of your plantation
      record (i.e., date and number of individual trees per species planted) and site verification (i.e., sketching and
      describing the area where the trees are planted).
  3. Issuance of Certificate of Tree Plantation Ownership (DENR Memorandum Circular 99-20)
    1. A CENR Officer will issue a Certificate of Tree Plantation Ownership (CTPO) after your application is approved.
      Benefits from tree plantation registration
    2. Tree plantation registration will help make harvesting and transport of timber easier (DENR
      Memorandum Circular 97-09).
    3. Easy to secure documents/clearances to harvest and transport timber products from your plantation.
    4. Exemption from any forest charges and other environmental fees.
    5. Better access to potential buyers through DENR database information system.
  4. Harvesting (DENR Memorandum Circular No. 99-20)
    1. A permit to cut is not required for registered plantations of non-premium species (DENR Memorandum
      Circular No. 99-20)
    2. However, harvesting premium species plantations including species of Benguet pine (DENR Administrative
      Order No. 92-49), a Special Private Land Timber Permit (SPLTP) is required from the Regional Executive
      Director/Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer/Community Environment and Natural
      Resources Officer.
    3. Existing naturally growing trees on private titled lands may be harvested by securing a SPLTP or Private
      Land Timber Permit (PLTP) from the Regional Executive Director/Provincial Environment and Natural
      Resources Officer/Community Environment and Natural Resources Officer (DENR Administrative Order No.
      2000-21)
  5. Transporting of Timber Products from Registered Tree Plantation (DENR Memorandum Circular No. 99-
    20)
    1. A duly accomplished Self-Monitoring Form (SMF) must be submitted to the CENR office before transporting
      timber products from registered tree plantation.
    2. During the transport of harvested products from registered tree plantation, these shall always be accompanied
      by the original copy of Self-Monitoring Form (SMF) and photocopy of tree plantation ownership
    3. The vehicle owner has to accomplish a Certificate of Transport Agreement (CTA) from CENR
      In any cases that you are not the owner of the harvested timber products, a Special Power of Attorney (SPA)
      is needed for SMF application and during transport.
  6. Marketing (DENR Administrative Order No. 1999-20)
    1. On the disposition/marketing of timber products from registered tree plantation, there shall be no restriction
      provided it is supplied/delivered to legitimate buyers.
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Businessman loses RM80,000 in Philippines agarwood deal

KUANTAN: A Malaysian who went to the Philippines to buy agarwood lost RM80,000 and landed in jail with his two partners.

Zim, 33, told a press conference today that his ordeal began when he made a deal with a man, named Noel Patalihug through Facebook, to buy agarwood; a highly sought after aromatic wood used in incense, perfumes and decorative carvings.

He went to Mindanao on May 3 with two business partners to seal the deal, Bernama reported.

“The man claimed to be an agent who knew the agarwood seller.”

He met the seller and bought 15kg of agarwood, paying a total of RM80,000.

As he was about to return to Malaysia, the Philippine authorities raided his hotel room on May 12 and arrested him and his partners in connection with the agarwood purchase.

Their court proceedings lasted about a month.

Released after the Malaysian embassy in the Philippines intervened, the men returned to Malaysia on July 1.

“I was frustrated. I went there for business but was deceived into believing that the agarwood purchase had the approval of the Philippine Forestry Office,” he said.

Kuantan MP Fuziah Salleh who was present at the press conference said she was informed about Zim’s arrest on May 22 by his mother.

She then contacted the Malaysian embassy in Manila for assistance.

Fuziah hopes this incident serves as a lesson to others to exercise more caution, especially when dealing with individuals they met through social networking sites.

“Those who wish to do business abroad are advised to check with the Malaysian authorities and the relevant embassies to avoid becoming fraud victims,” she added.

Original news posted found on this link https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2018/07/13/businessman-loses-rm80000-in-agarwood-deal-in-philippines/