Rubber Expansion Threatens Biodiversity, Livelihoods Research Suggests

Increasing amounts of environmentally valuable and protected land are being cleared for rubber plantations that are economically unsustainable, new research suggests.  More widespread monitoring is vital to design policy that protects livelihoods and environments.

The research was recently published in Global Environmental Change
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Although global natural rubber prices have fluctuated strongly in the last fifteen years, they are likely to continue rising as synthetic alternatives are no match for natural latex.  This financial incentive, as well as the expansion of oil palm, an even more lucrative rival, has caused rubber plantations to expand beyond their tropical comfort zone in Indonesia and into the margins of continental south-east Asia.

This has brought wealth to some, but not all, say the researchers.  As marginal lands are often too dry, too slanted, too high, too wet, too cold, too windy, or a combination of the above, rubber plantations require increasing amounts of input in the form of fertilizer, pesticides, and labour in order to maintain yield levels -- and even then may not be profitable.

The research also suggests that climate change will render 70% of current and another 55% of future plantation areas environmentally poorly suited for rubber.  Smallholder farmers' livelihoods face additional threat from price fluctuations, loss of food security, and the narrowing of income sources.

Read more at Rubber Expansion Threatens Biodiversity, Livelihoods Research Suggests