Sandalwood

Some facts about Sandalwood in Fiji

Traditional Uses of Santalum yasi In Fiji.

In the Fijian tradition the use of sandalwood dust sprinkled on the heads of man and woman in wedding ceremonies varies in the 14 different Provinces of Fiji. It is used to signify that you belong to a chiefly clan for males, for females that you are still a virgin, for decorating the hair during this auspicious occasion and for scenting purposes. It is still a traditional practice used in most wedding ceremonies today. Due to the distribution of sandalwood in Fiji, in some parts where sandalwood is not available there are other traditional scented trees where their flowers and fruits are used for scenting and significance purposes during the wedding ceremonies.

In Fiji, Santalum yasi was sometimes transferred with the bride into her marriage and brought to the new village where her husband resides. This practice is still done today and perhaps this could have contributed to the distribution of sandalwood in Fiji. The heartwood of sandalwood is used for scenting oils, seeds or live seedlings are also being transferred through this process but will depend entirely on the locality while transferring. If the distance of transferring is short then live seedlings will be fine and if distance of transferring is far then seeds are mostly used.

An example of a sandalwood research work done in Tilivalevu, santalum yasi did not grow naturally at Tilivalevu and Mr. Jiuta Nakalawelawe sourced seeds from Naivaka Village, in 1980’s where his wife hails from, germinated the seeds in the village and planted the seedlings in the village green (rara). These seedlings have grown into mature sandalwood trees that were planted some 26 years back. And now uses these trees as a seed source for raising sandalwood seedlings.

A branch from mature sandalwood has also being used for a traditional wedding ceremony. The transferring of genetic material does not only take place during traditional wedding ceremonies but also in other traditional ceremonies and functions. The transfer of genetic plant materials in the ways mentioned above did have a great influence on the distribution of sandalwood in Fiji.
　
Chiefs are anointed with sandalwood scented oil during the traditional installation ceremony when they are first made chiefs and sandalwood dust sprinkled on the head. The significance is that it is chiefly attire during the traditional chiefly installation ceremony. The Fijian name given to this traditional ceremony is "kuna vagunuvi e dua na Turaga buli". This practice is still used today on all traditional chiefly installation ceremony.
　
It is not known that spiritual associations for sandalwood in Fiji. Perhaps in those primitive days, however the need arises to explore further to actually determine was it used for this purpose. Sandalwood in an article titled "In Search of Tagaloa: Pulemelei, Samaoan Mythology and Science", written by the Honorable Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Taisi Tupuola Tufuga Efi, mentioned that sandalwood or asi is an important plant used in the Samoan "Liutafaga" and "Fono ma Aitu" ceremonies. In the article, it was also mentioned that "In Samoa one of the essential ingredients for performing liutofaga (a ceremony performed when disturbing a deceased person’s grave) would be sandalwood or sandalwood leaves. This is evidenced in the Samoan word for funerals falelauasi, meaning the house that is lined with sandalwood leaves. Sandalwood like incense is one of the essences of Samoan culture, particularly Samoan spiritual culture." This is just an example of a spiritual ceremony involving sandalwood.

　
Harvesting of Sandalwood In Fiji
　

Sandalwood exploitation in Fiji started way back in the 1800’s when the first European settlers arrived in Fiji on the coasts of Bua Bay. It is not known the volume of sandalwood harvested in those days and how well did the resource owners benefited from the sandalwood exploitation by the European settlers. Today sandalwood is still harvested in most parts of the country where this valuable resource still exists.

Yasi is a small tree, up to 10 m tall and 40cm dbh (diameter breast height). Trees have a sparse crown and irregular branching habit. It is semi-parasitic with the roots attaching to the roots of other host trees like citrus, guava and hibiscus, in order to obtain water, some mineral nutrients and possibly also some organic nutrients. Yasi plants growing in association with well-adapted hosts are able to withstand periodic dry conditions and infertile soil. Even when grown under optimal conditions, with a good selection of hosts, yasi is slow growing taking 25 - 30 years to attain harvestable size.

Sandalwood harvesting involves the felling of the tree, uprooting of roots and removing the sapwood as sandalwood heartwood is where bulk of the sandalwood oil (santanol) is contained within. The local markets of Fiji have different approaches when purchasing sandalwood from the resource owners. Some purchase sandalwood without the sapwood removed, some purchase only when sapwood is removed, while some purchase sandalwood with the sapwood removed and also the sapwood chips.

The age of the sandalwood tree could also have the different purchasing prices and also the different parts of the sandalwood tree e.g. the roots have the highest levels of heartwood present, while the stem and branches have lower levels present within. Most of the domestic markets process the sandalwood further to meet the requirements of the international markets e.g. by processing the heartwood into dust or chip form and there are three plants in Fiji now that are able to extract oil from sandalwood. Approximately 60 % of the total sandalwood purchased is exported to international markets while the remaining percentage is used locally for production of sandalwood products such as perfumed oil, perfumed soap, scented candles, etc.

A socio economic research study was undertaken in 2007 on Lakeba Island in the Lau Group to study the volume of heartwood and sapwood of 26 year old sandalwood trees and that is when they are matured and heartwood have developed fully. Results from this research study showed that the Indian sandalwood are vigorous and have a higher percentage of heartwood than the sapwood while to the Fiji sandalwood has a low percentage of heartwood compared to the high percentage of its sapwood.

International markets have a strong interest with the Fiji sandalwood due to the high quality fragrance of sandalwood oil produced. According to the local markets exporting sandalwood produce, Fiji sandalwood is mostly used for the production of the base fragrance in some of the well known sprays e.g. the Arden products, Christian Dior, etc. This could be one of the reasons why the local markets are processing the sandalwood further into dust, chip form and extracted oil before they export sandalwood. In Saudi Arabia, it is their tradition to wear sprays made from sandalwood.