Michael, as a result of so called
free money from locating the resin in the jungle, many trees were indiscriminately cut down. These included the ones which weren't naturally infected. In the wild only about 1% of the trees are infected and have resin in them. Up till today, we still have foreigners coming into M'sia and doing it. These guys are so organised and expert at what they do, they are literally
invisible in the jungle. They will spend months in there and then have their contacts smuggle out the wood chips. Though caught frequently, there's no provision in the law for them to be heavily fined and punished. Those caught may serve a short prison term, pay a light fine, then get deported. After awhile, they are back again!
During the Vietnam war era, the bombing in Laos destroyed many of the
Aquilaria crassna. Those which survived the bombing were highly infected with resin due to the effects of from the contusion of the bomb blasts. Kinda weird!
