Forest loss from SE Asia rubber is up to 3 times more than thought: study
The Hindu
Forest loss driven by rubber production in Southeast Asia could be two to three times higher than estimated, highlighting the challenges facing importers under pressure to find sustainable supplies
Forest loss driven by rubber production in Southeast Asia could be two to three times higher than estimated, highlighting the challenges facing importers under pressure to find sustainable supplies, research showed on Wednesday.
Increasing global rubber demand is adding to pressure on natural forests and driving biodiversity loss, with Southeast Asia, responsible for 90% of global production, bearing the brunt, an international team of researchers warned.
The researchers, in a paper published by Nature, said that previous data suggested rubber was a relatively minor problem when it comes to deforestation, compared with commodities like soy and palm oil.
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But high-resolution satellite data, which helped identify more plantations run by smallholders, suggested that forest losses "greatly exceed" previous estimates.
More than 4 million hectares of forest have been lost to rubber plantations since 1993, with two thirds of it in Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia, they said.
More than 14 million hectares of land in the region - including China's main rubber-producing provinces of Yunnan and Hainan - are devoted to rubber, up from 10 million in 2020.
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