The Population Decline of Indian
Sandalwood and People’s Role
in Conservation—An Analysis
A.N. Arunkumar, Geeta Joshi, M.S. Rao, T.S. Rathore
and V. Ramakantha
Abstract Indian Sandalwood (Santalum album L.) is one of the most important trees
in Indian forestry. Time immemorial, Sandalwood has been an integral part of the
culture and heritage of India. Description of Sandalwood appears in Subhashitas—
collections of verses of wise sayings, code of conduct and ethics. The various uses of
Sandalwood and oil have been mentioned extensively in the Indian literature and the
aroma of wood and oil has been valued by all the major religions of the world. The
fragrant heartwood and the essential oil obtained from it is a significant component in
most of the auspicious occasion and a vital cog during cremation as the aroma that
emanates from the burnt wood is considered to be the carrier of soul to its destination.
The wood is used for carving and handicrafts while the oil has extensive uses in
pharmaceutical industry and is an essential ingredient in all high valued perfumes
world over. The Southern part of Karnataka and Northern part of Tamil Nadu is
considered to be the natural distribution area of Sandalwood. Therefore, Karnataka
State is also popularly known as Gandhada Nadu (Sandalwood state). For having
been ordained with Royal tree status—a tag indicating the exclusive proprietorship of
Government, not only hampered the Sandalwood tree cultivation, but also indirectly
resulted in over exploitation and subsequently being categorised as vulnerable in
IUCN Red List. The average production of Sandalwood in Karnataka between the
years 1960–1961 and 1964–1965 was 2287.8 tons which drastically reduced to
366.74 tons by the end of the last five years of the twentieth century (1995–1996 to
1999–2000). The average production further fell to a mere 61.57 tons in the first
decade of this century. The situation in Tamil Nadu is also very similar and the
natural population has substantially reduced. It has been reported that commercially
utilisable Sandalwood trees of girth more than 30 cm to a large extent is absent in its
natural area of distribution in both the states. Considering this critical situation, in the
early part of this century, the two Governments have relaxed their policies with
reference to Sandalwood cultivation. This has encouraged farmers and entrepreneurs
A.N. Arunkumar (&) Á G. Joshi Á M.S. Rao Á T.S. Rathore Á V. Ramakantha
Institute of Wood Science and Technology, Malleswaram, Bangalore, India
e-mail: anarunkumar@gmail.com
© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016
S. Nautiyal et al. (eds.), Climate Change Challenge (3C)
and Social-Economic-Ecological Interface-Building, Environmental Science,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-31014-5_22
377
Sandalwood and People’s Role
in Conservation—An Analysis
A.N. Arunkumar, Geeta Joshi, M.S. Rao, T.S. Rathore
and V. Ramakantha
Abstract Indian Sandalwood (Santalum album L.) is one of the most important trees
in Indian forestry. Time immemorial, Sandalwood has been an integral part of the
culture and heritage of India. Description of Sandalwood appears in Subhashitas—
collections of verses of wise sayings, code of conduct and ethics. The various uses of
Sandalwood and oil have been mentioned extensively in the Indian literature and the
aroma of wood and oil has been valued by all the major religions of the world. The
fragrant heartwood and the essential oil obtained from it is a significant component in
most of the auspicious occasion and a vital cog during cremation as the aroma that
emanates from the burnt wood is considered to be the carrier of soul to its destination.
The wood is used for carving and handicrafts while the oil has extensive uses in
pharmaceutical industry and is an essential ingredient in all high valued perfumes
world over. The Southern part of Karnataka and Northern part of Tamil Nadu is
considered to be the natural distribution area of Sandalwood. Therefore, Karnataka
State is also popularly known as Gandhada Nadu (Sandalwood state). For having
been ordained with Royal tree status—a tag indicating the exclusive proprietorship of
Government, not only hampered the Sandalwood tree cultivation, but also indirectly
resulted in over exploitation and subsequently being categorised as vulnerable in
IUCN Red List. The average production of Sandalwood in Karnataka between the
years 1960–1961 and 1964–1965 was 2287.8 tons which drastically reduced to
366.74 tons by the end of the last five years of the twentieth century (1995–1996 to
1999–2000). The average production further fell to a mere 61.57 tons in the first
decade of this century. The situation in Tamil Nadu is also very similar and the
natural population has substantially reduced. It has been reported that commercially
utilisable Sandalwood trees of girth more than 30 cm to a large extent is absent in its
natural area of distribution in both the states. Considering this critical situation, in the
early part of this century, the two Governments have relaxed their policies with
reference to Sandalwood cultivation. This has encouraged farmers and entrepreneurs
A.N. Arunkumar (&) Á G. Joshi Á M.S. Rao Á T.S. Rathore Á V. Ramakantha
Institute of Wood Science and Technology, Malleswaram, Bangalore, India
e-mail: anarunkumar@gmail.com
© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016
S. Nautiyal et al. (eds.), Climate Change Challenge (3C)
and Social-Economic-Ecological Interface-Building, Environmental Science,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-31014-5_22
377