This webinar will discuss the world of agarwood, one of the world’s most expensive essential oils and incense woods. What is this magical product, where is it produced, what is it used for and by whom. Aquilaria species are CITES 2 listed plants which have been used for centuries in the Asian world for medicinal , spiritual, fragrance and ornamental purposes. Because of its enormous value deforestation has been massive throughout most range states especially in Indonesia, Vietnam Cambodia and Laos where most of the product comes from. In the last 20 years attempts have successfully been made to induce resin formation in aquilaria trees paving the way to the first plantations and the development of an integrated agro-forestry sector built around agarwood. Furthermore the western world has “ discovered“ agarwood and has developed a wide range of synthetic analogues which some say are destroying the mystery and magic of this product. Denzil Phillips is one of the few scientists in the west that has travelled to most of the production zones and traced the product through to its final end users and learnt many of the secrets that only a few Indians, Japanese and Arabian traders once knew. Key
Takeaways:
The significance of Agarwood
About the locations Agarwood is produced in
Knowledge from 20 years studying Agarwood
About Denzil:
L. Denzil Phillips has over thirty years of experience of working in the field of rural development, international trade and small business development. He has successfully established and run a series of specialist companies involved in the production, processing and sale of high value natural products especially non-timber forest products. He has also helped design and supervise multi-million euro donor-funded programs, most of which have been concerned with private sector development especially in the field of natural products for perfumery, cosmetics, health foods and natural medicines. Denzil Phillips has exemplary skills in the design and evaluation of projects and has helped build specialist investment portfolios of many development finance institutions. Almost all his work has been in a multicultural and multinational environment. Private-public sector dialogue has always been an important aspect of his work and the set up and promotion of small and medium scale value added enterprises has been one of his special areas of interest.
