Lucrative crafts from a rare tree.

• Author: Diederich, Phillippe
• Position: Folk art boxes from Olinala, Mexico

Lucio spreads pumpkin seeds to dry in the sun. The corn in the milpa is ready for harvest. The ax is inside; it doesn't cut linaloe trees any more. Lucio moves slowly, his black dog tagging along a few feet behind. His sombrero shields his old eyes from the morning brightness. "The trees that are left are too far," he says. "It was good work when they were all around here. We used to cut plenty, but now I'm too old to go that far to cut linaloe."

The linaloe tree (Bursera aloexylon) is the prime material employed by the artisans in the mountain town of Olinala in Guerrero, Mexico, for making the famous cajitas de Olinala, or little Olinala, boxes. These fancifully lacquered creations are etched with Nahuatl symbols of the natural world, and the interior wood is left exposed, giving off a fresh, almost perfume-like aroma.

Originally, Indians from the region fashioned bowls from the shell of the fruit of the tecomate tree and decorated them with red, black, and yellow lacquers. The linaloe tree was first exploited in the 1800s for its aromatic essence, which was exported to Europe. It is believed that during this period the artisans of Olinala, began crafting boxes and trunks of linaloe, decorating them wit h the colorful lacquers and etched drawings in the thousand-year-old tradition of their ancestors.

But demand for the Olinala, crafts has placed the linaloe tree at risk. Although the linaloe can be found throughout different states in Mexico and in India, where seeds and saplings were exported earlier in the century and where it is still exploited for its aromatic oil, it, has nearly vanished from Guerrero state.

In April 1997 the Mexican government launched a nationwide program for the Conservation of Wildlife and Product Diversification in the Rural Sector. Under this program the linaloe will find some protection. Biologist Carlos Llorens, of the wildlife branch of the National Ecology Institute and the National Program for the Conservation of Species in Mexico City, says, "it will help reduce the impact the traditional arts have on the linaloe without losing the tradition. Some artisans are already using pine wood as a substitute for linaloe while the linaloe recuperates."

Currently, the National Ecology institute, the National Autonomous University in Mexico City, and the Council for Nahua Villages of the Upper Balsas in Guerrero are "entering the monitoring stages of a program that will include the linaloe, colorin, palo morado, and...