From Aesop to Estée Lauder, Australian sandalwood is coveted worldwide for its aroma. But experts say it’s at risk

Threatened species scientific committee is mulling whether to list Australian sandalwood for protection under national environmental laws

Consumers and celebrities around the world covet it for its warm, earthy and musky scent. But Australian sandalwood’s popularity has come at more than just a hefty cost to the wallet, with some scientists warning the species is at risk of extinction in the wild.

“Australian sandalwood’s downfall is that it’s one of the most fragrant species of sandalwood in the world,” said Richard McLellan, an adjunct research fellow at Charles Sturt University.

“A lot of people know sandalwood very well but very few people know it’s declining in the wild and it’s been over-harvested for decades.”

McLellan has spent the past six years researching wild Australian sandalwood – Santalum spicatum – which is harvested in Western Australia for its oil, used in luxury perfumes, incense, cosmetics and other consumer products.

Dutjahn Sandalwood Oils is a 50% Aboriginal-owned business that sells sandalwood oil to companies such as Aesop and Givaudan – a multinational that supplies the Estée Lauder group, among others. Its chief executive, Guy Vincent, said the business sourced Santalum spicatum from a combination of plantations, the WA government-owned Forest Products Commission and native title lands managed by traditional owners.

“From our perspective, the species is not threatened, it’s thriving especially on native title land where there are traditional owners managing their land,” he said.

He said regeneration of the species on native title lands was “monitored and validated scientifically”.

“Here we have this spicatum that is valued greatly by international fragrance houses and managed sustainably by Aboriginal people and gives opportunities for Aboriginal people.

“There needs to be a broader view of the sustainability in this context.”

In WA, the primary commercial harvest operator is the Forest Products Commission, which manages the harvest of up to 2,500 tonnes of wild Australian sandalwood each year.

Australian sandalwood is also harvested in plantations, but the warnings from conservationists are focused on trees found in the wild and long-standing concerns that there is insufficient natural regeneration of the species.

Historically, Santalum spicatum grew across most of southern Western Australia and into South Australia. It was listed as a threatened species decades ago in South Australia but has no such protections in WA, where wild populations have largely retreated to the semi-arid parts of the state.

McLellan is hoping that could soon change with the federal Threatened Species Scientific Committee (TSSC) considering whether to list Australian sandalwood for protection under national environmental laws.

“My research shows it is a keystone species for native fauna and yet we pull it out of the ground to make perfume with no thought to its ecological value in the landscape,” he said.

The committee is due to deliver its recommendation to the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, on 30 October, one of almost 50 expected recommendations – including on the conservation status of the maugean skate.

Three years ago, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listed wild Australian sandalwood as vulnerable on its international red list of threatened species after scientific advice identified “unsustainable, legal wild harvest” as a major threat to its survival.

Prof Kingsley Dixon, a botanical specialist at Curtin University, said across its range “we are seeing the species reduced in both abundance and vigour and vanished in many areas where it was once common”.

“The evidence is we have less sandalwood in the wild than probably ever in its evolutionary history,” he said.

The WA Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions manages wild sandalwood by imposing limits on how much can be harvested each financial year. The department is due to set new annual harvest limits in 2027.

A spokesperson said that review process would “respond to any decision by the commonwealth should sandalwood be listed as a threatened species”.

“As acknowledged in Western Australia’s sandalwood biodiversity management program, there is concern that a lack of natural regeneration in some areas in the wild is threatening long-term stability of populations,” they said.

“Therefore, re-seeding and regeneration programs are important for sandalwood conservation. WA’s sandalwood management program seeks to conserve, maintain or re-establish self-sustaining sandalwood ecosystems in the state.”

Peter Robertson, an environmental consultant and convener of the “Save our Sandalwood” network, said that – in addition to over-exploitation – climate change and grazing by feral animals were major threats.

“It’s in a dire state,” he said.

“We think that the minister must accept that advice and ensure that Santalum spicatum is listed as a threatened species.”

Cover photo: By The Guardian