In oil-rich Oman, efforts to preserve frankincense ‘white gold’

The arid Dawkah valley is home to one of Oman’s most prized resources: not oil or gas but frankincense trees, their fragrant sap harvested for millennia by residents who call it “white gold”.

Located in Oman’s southern Dhofar region, bordering Yemen, the valley is the world’s largest such reserve, home to around 5,000 frankincense trees that dot the barren earth, their trunks bearing kernels that exude a distinctive woody scent.

“For us, frankincense is more precious than gold. It’s a…