The fragrance industry is massive.
In the UK alone we spent 1.6 billion pounds on perfumes in 2020.
The market is teeming with the latest new and on trend products,
which are endlessly pushed by celebrities and influencers on social media.
Known as liquid gold, oud is one of the most expensive and sought after ingredients in perfumes.
With its origins in Middle Eastern culture and religion,
this ingredient has recently taken the West by storm and demand for oud and its price have skyrocketed.
What makes oud so popular?
Forget smelling like money.
If you want to smell like a bank.
And where does it come from?
Feels terrible that it is because of our greed it is almost extinct in the wild.
So what actually is oud?
Oud is an essential oil, which is extracted from the wooden chips of an Aquilaria tree.
But not just any Aquilaria tree.
The tree has to be infected with a certain fungus,
which turns this usually pale wood into a dark resinous fibre, also known as agarwood.
The whole process can take up to 100 years in the wild.
The agarwood is then fermented and distilled to create the distinct oud fragrance.
Walid claims to be the number one oud seller in the UK.
He sells a refined oud, which he infuses with other scents at his store in London.
I'm in North London. I'm about to go meet Walid at Black Oud,
who is hopefully going to tell me why Oud is so popular.
I'm excited.
Hello.. How's it going? Hi, Walid right.
Yeah, man. Thanks very much.
You ready for your oud experience?
Yeah. Go on. I'm excited.
Grab a seat. Do you know anything about oud.
Basically nothing.
So I'm going to give you a bit of insight what oud is.
So this here is pure oud, this little boy here cost me 250 pound.
Oh, my God. So have a smell of this.
You might not like it, though.
No, Oh.
heurgh. Oud is an acquired taste.
It's not for everyone, but it's a lifestyle.
How it works here at Black Oud is basically we'll find out a bit about your lifestyle,
what you do. Where do you like to hang around?
You like to go out in the evenings.
Do you like to do dinners, are you a bit of a, you know, James Bond.
Go on. Let's do it. Let's find me my oud.
..
So this one here is called Oud Arabi
Let's give it a go.
It's quite faint. It's quite like...
That's why it's called refined oud compared to the other Oud.
Totally different smell.
So this one is mixed with other ingredients.
Have you been to Dubai before?
No, Don't worry.
I'm about to take you to Dubai.
So this one here is called Emirati Oud.
Forget smelling like money.
If you want to smell like a bank.
Oh, I like that. This is kind of more like me.
It's a bit of you.
Yeah, a bit of me. A bit of you? A bit of you? We've got this one here.
This one's called Oud mukhallath. Mukhallath to the Arabic means mixed, so this one is mixed oud.
This one smells like a Ferrari. That's my favourite so far.
These here are for people that go to certain places.
They want to be known before they enter in the room.
Yeah, so some fragrance is kind of like that.
What sort of people come to Black Oud?
So you got rappers.
We've had talents, artists.
I've met some footballers as well.
So how was your oud experience so far?
Yeah, good.
Interesting. whole new world.
How about we wrap up with some mint tea?
So Dan how are you finding the tea?
It's nice. You like it yeah?
So how culturally significant is oud?
So basically, as Muslims, we are taught that the Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him.
He used to love and adore perfume.
So it comes from that angle.
Even myself being half Arab, I grew up smelling this stuff.
You know, my mum used to burn it in the morning.
I've been exposed to it from a very young age.
But a lot of people that, you know
are recently maybe get an opportunity to go to the Middle East.
They get introduced to this culture.
What do people think of that, that it's becoming more mainstream?
I think it's a good thing because then that way it allows people to appreciate something that's always been there.
As the owner of Black Oud, I make sure that people understand what oud is.
I don't want you just to come, buy the product and leave.
I want you to understand it.
Why are you wearing it? Where does it come from?
It's deeper than just selling fragrance.
I really enjoyed my first oud experience.
It's really interesting to learn how an ancient
Middle Eastern tradition has become so popular in the mainstream.
But it has kind of made me think about where does oud really come from.
And how is it harvested?
And does that have an environmental impact?
I've learned that Aguilaria is a genus of subtropical forest trees,
Which are native to South and Southeast Asia.
All species are listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
It's estimated that their population for the last three generations has declined by over 80%.
Less than one in ten trees are actually infected with agarwood,
And there are no obvious external signs that a tree contains it.
The search for agarwood has resulted in indiscriminate felling of trees,
a dramatic decline in wild populations and huge damage to the ecosystems which these trees help
support. All species are currently protected under international law,
meaning their imports and exports are monitored to ensure their numbers stay stable.
However, the value of oud is so high that the illegal felling of wild populations
continues to put Aquilaria trees under threat in all countries where they occur.
I'm about to meet Supriyo, who's based in Assam, India.
Once a stronghold for wild Aquilaria trees, their numbers have plummeted in recent years.
Fortunately, he and the Indian government are working towards some ingenious solutions to revive their
populations.
And create a more sustainable trade for the future.
Hello. My name is Supriya Sen.
I'm working as assistant professor
In the Department of Biosciences, Assam, Don Bosco University.
Presently I am standing in front of the agarwood plantation, which you can see right behind
me. So this project is about making a consortium of micro
organisms that would lead to increasing the yield of agarwood.
Hi. Supriya, how's it going?
Yeah. Hi. I'm fine.
How are you?
Good, thanks. So how many Aquilaria trees are left in the wild in your region?
Well, there aren't left any actually, it is almost extinct in the wild.
And the few that are there are in the reserve forests
under the supervision of government.
Feels terrible that it is because of our greed that we have lost the resource.
It's a bio resource.
With it going extinct in some areas
I know some people would think that if the ingredient is primarily used for perfumery,
It's not an essential thing for a species that's critically endangered in lots of its range.
Do you think that potentially it should be banned.
I mean, it's a valuable bio resource.
Many people's livelihoods are dependent on agarwood.
And there is possibility to carry it out as plantations.
If we are able to protect the trees in the wild and replenish
the wild populations,
Then I think the trade should be incentivized.
Actually, that's interesting.
So you think that if the trade is incentivised,
then it actually might increase the chances of it surviving in the wild?
Exactly.
At Assam Don Bosco University, Supriyo and his team have been developing the technology
to make agarwood production more efficient.
By using micro-organisms to feed on agarwood chips, they're able to speed up the fermentation process,
which produces more oil in less time and more importantly, requires less wood.
In Assam, they've also begun to introduce the fungus to cultivated tree populations.
By guaranteeing an infection, they fell fewer trees and can expand their production to new areas.
The Indian government have found another way of conserving this species through homesteads.
What are the benefits of homesteads?
Usually in rural areas, people have some land right, just adjoining
one's home.
where you can have a mango tree or a fruit plant near your home.
So likewise there can be agarwood plantation also.
and the incentive comes if there is a trade, is the homestead garden owner
he is able to sell his tree and get some money for his family
livelihood. There is also a place for conservation.
Agarwood is not only about the species diversity of the tree.
Agarwood is infected by an insect, that needs to be conserved.
It is infected by fungus, which leads to agarwood formation that also needs to
be conserved.
So here in the UK, gardens are critically important for so many different
birds,
hedgehogs, foxes, different animals.
And it just seems that you guys over there have exactly the same importance.
Very true. Yes, exactly.
Exactly. Yeah.
What are your hopes for the future of Oud, agarwood in this industry.
I feel very proud that we have been able to
create a certain amount of impact.
We want to see agarwood from Assam to be something like Assam tea which
is known globally
as as premium quality things and not certainly something to
deal with deforestation.
I'm very hopeful about the future.
Well, thanks so much, Supriya.
Oud is an important cultural ingredient which has been used and enjoyed around the world for hundreds of years.
It's amazing to see its popularity grow and to reach more people than ever before.
But this trade has real issues.
The way it's harvested and the devastating impact
this has on its native trees and forests is not sustainable.
If we don't do something, this tree could become extinct in the wild for good.
If we want to continue enjoying oud, we need a sustainable trade in it.
And in doing so, protect the communities, forests and ecosystems which depend on it.