Ancient frankincense trade could disappear as last wild forests come under threat - in pictures

A frankincense trader holds a handful of raw gum near Gudmo, Somaliland. Harvesting frankincense is risky. The trees can grow high on cliff edges, shallow roots gripping bare rock slithering with venomous snakes.

Sap runs out of a frankincense tree near Mader Moge, Somaliland. The various classes of resin are shipped to Yemen, Saudi Arabia and eventually Europe and America.

A frankinsence tapper wears cloth wrapped on his feet to keep sticky resin from his skin and shoes near Gudmo, Somaliland. Besides its use as incense, frankincense gum is distilled into oil for use in perfumes, skin lotions, medicine and chewing gum.

Women sort raw frankincense gum in Burao, Somaliland. Once the resin is collected, women sort the chunks by colour and size.

A man holds up two large tears of maydi, the large, most expensive chunks of frankincense resin, in Burao, Somaliland.

Frankincense tapper Musse Ismail Hassan rests in a cave in a canyon near Gudmo, Somaliland.

Mohammed Ahmed Ali wounds a frankincense tree near Mader Moge, Somaliland. In the last six years, prices for raw frankincense have shot up from around $1 (Dh3,67) per kilogram to $5 to $7.

Cliffs near Daalo in the Cal Madow mountains in Somaliland. oVver-tapping is destroying the trees across the Cal Madow, as tappers try to extract as much sap as possible and make too many cuts per tree.

Rob Gurdebeke

The last intact wild frankincense forests on Earth are under threat as prices have shot up in recent years with the global appetite for essential oils. Overharvesting has led to the trees dying off faster than they can replenish, putting the ancient resin trade at risk. All photos: Jason Patinkin / AP

Updated: December 26, 2016, 12:00 AM