The Center for International Forestry Research in Bogor is studying how people change their reliance on various forest products as an area becomes more developed or other opportunities arise. The findings should be useful to development agencies, NGOs and communities who want to commercialize a forest product or expand markets to improve income for local people, but need to figure out the best strategy for cultivating the product. It s an outstanding example of true forest product domestication by farmers for a targeted production, for which information was really lacking before the project started, she said. Most benzoin produced today comes from North Sumatra and Laos. Sumatran benzoin has suffered in world markets from a perception it is inferior to the benzoin from Laos.
Traders often mix damar resin and other substances with benzoin, so the quality varies widely.
Although once brisk, trade in Sumatran benzoin which still closely follows old trading routes has been steady but limited in recent years. Falling prices have led to a considerable decline in output since the 1970s, which many farmers in North Sumatra recall as a Golden Age. Long History Historical accounts indicate that benzoin from Sumatra was traded by the Chinese as far back as the 8 th century. One of the earliest records of its production came from a European traveller to Sumatra in 1772, who saw benzoin gardens in the inland region where Batak people lived. More precise descriptions were given by Dutch foresters and administrators at the end of the 19 th century.