Urban, Karl and Ulrike Prinz. RiffReporter Podcast, “Können Waldgärten den Regenwald retten, Ulrike Prinz?” 2 March 2026. https://www.riffreporter.de/de/umwelt/riffreporter-podcast-parfum-industrie-rosenholz-raubbau-brasilien-waldgaerten-indigene.
Leonson Batista showing his forest garden where he has been cultivating rosewood for 18 years.
Leonson Batista showing his forest garden where he has been cultivating rosewood for 18 years.
© Ulrike Prinz. Used by permission.
The copyright holder reserves, or holds for their own use, all the rights provided by copyright law, such as distribution, performance, and creation of derivative works.
The substance is found in the famous fragrance Chanel No. 5, and the perfume industry has been using it in its formulas for decades: the natural substance linalool, which comes from a tree in the Amazon rainforest. Rosewood, a natural source of linalool, was at times in such high demand that it almost wiped out the tree. The fragrance made the perfume world rich, but the forests poor. Not only the forest but also the Indigenous Sateré-Mawé People have suffered from linalool extraction. Today, however, the sustainable use of rosewood has become the Sateré-Mawé’s hope.
In this podcast, Karl Urban sits down with ethnologist Ulrike Prinz to discuss linalool extraction from rosewood in the rainforest. Please note that the podcast is in German.
© 2024 Karl Urban and Ulrike Prinz. All rights reserved.