|genus = Aquilaria
|species = malaccensis
|authority = Lam.
|synonyms = A. agallocha[1][2]
A. secundaria,[1][2]
A. malaccense'[2]
Agalochum malaccense[2]
}}Aquilaria malaccensis is a species of plant in the Thymelaeaceae family. It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. It is threatened by habitat loss.[3]The World List of Threatened Trees (Oldfield et al., 1998) listed Iran as one of the countries with a population of A. malaccensis, but an exploratory 2002 CITES review confirmed that Iran has no record of the species. As a result Iran is no longer considered as habitat for or producer of agarwood.[4]Economics
{{main|Agarwood}}Aquilaria malaccensis is the major source[5] of agarwood, a resinous heartwood, used for perfume and incense.[1] The resin is produced by the tree in response to infection by a parasitic ascomycetous mould, Phaeoacremonium parasitica,[6] a dematiaceous (dark-walled) fungus.
Threats
Due to rising demand for agarwood, as well as shortcomings in monitoring harvests and an increasing illegal trade, A. malaccensis is on the brink of extinction in the wild and is now considered critically endangered on the IUCN Red List. Due to large-scale logging operations, many forested areas where A. malaccensis was once abundant have been destroyed.[7]
Conservation
Despite its endangerment, A. malaccensis is highly adaptable and can perform well in areas contaminated by pollution. Due to this, conservation plans have been set in place to raise agarwood in contaminated areas as well as homestead gardens.[7]
References
1. ^1 2 Broad, S. (1995) "Agarwood harvesting in Vietnam" TRAFFIC Bulletin 15:96
2. ^1 2 3 Anonymous (November 2003) "Annex 2: Review of Significant Trade: Aquilaria malaccensis" Significant trade in plants: Implementation of Resolution Conf. 12.8: Progress with the Implementation of Species Reviews (CITES PC14 Doc.9.2.2) Fourteenth meeting of the Plants Committee, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, Windhoek, Namibia
3. ^Barden, Angela (2000) Heart of the Matter: Agarwood Use and Trade and CITES Implementation for Aquilaria malaccensis {{cite web|url=http://www.traffic.org/news/agarwood.pdf |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2007-08-25 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927014949/http://www.traffic.org/news/agarwood.pdf |archivedate=2007-09-27 |df= }} TRAFFIC International, Cambridge, {{ISBN|1-85850-177-6}}
4. ^-PC14 -09-02-02-A2.pdf page 47{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
5. ^Ng, L.T., Chang Y.S. and Kadir, A.A. (1997) "A review on agar (gaharu) producing Aquilaria species" Journal of Tropical Forest Products 2(2): pp. 272-285
6. ^formerly Phialophora parasitica Crous, P. W. et al. (1996) "Phaeoacremonium gen. nov. associated with wilt and decline diseases of woody hosts and human infections." Mycologia 88(5): pp. 786–796
7. ^1 {{Cite web|url=https://india.mongabay.com/2018/10/18/home-gardens-and-polluted-fields-are-helping-conserve-this-perfume-source/|title=Home gardens and polluted fields are helping conserve this perfume source|website=india.mongabay.com|language=en-US|access-date=2018-10-21|date=2018-10-18}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q2249742}}{{Malvales-stub}} 4 : Aquilaria|Taxonomy articles created by Polbot|Critically endangered flora of Asia|Plants described in 1783