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The rate of consumption is an economic benchmark, and the higher the consumption for a commodity; the better it is for the economy. Yet, with the apparent obsessive focus on consumerism, we tend to lose sight of the downsides, particularly how it impacts the environment. In this report, Angelica Buan takes a look at the environmental burden the rubber sector places on deforestation, based on research provided by the University of East Anglia, UK.
Planting rubber at the expense of wildlife
Our basic and created needs continuously increase to include a plethora of products that use up natural resources. Cars, for example, have become a necessity, especially since urbanisation and the emergence of megacities are encouraging mobility.
Globally, automotive makers are expanding and increasing production of vehicles to meet the rising demand. More than 120 million vehicles are forecast to be rolled out by 2016, according to a finding by IHS Automotive.
Akin to car production is the fate of the tyre sector, which depends heavily on natural rubber as a key component for tyres.
The tyre industry uses up 70% of natural rubber, hence, with the burgeoning global demand for tyres forecast to rise to 4.3% annually through 2017 alone, will also trigger expansion of rubber plantations. Consequently, this results in the loss of tropical diversity, according to a new study from the UK-based University of East Anglia (UEA).
According to the findings of the research team, led by Eleanor Warren-Thomas from the School of Environmental Sciences at the UEA, about 4.3 to 8.5 ha of additional rubber plantations are required to meet the demand by 2024, and thus threaten significant areas of the Asian forest, including many protected areas. The research was done together with Paul M. Dolman of UEA, and David P. Edwards of Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield.
The report says that mainland Southeast Asia and southwest China represent the epicentre of rapid rubber expansion. Rubber was first planted in staterun plantations in Malaysia, Indonesia, and southern areas of Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar, and later on adopted into smallholder agroforestry systems.
“Increasing demand for natural rubber necessitates a robust sustainability initiative to mitigate impacts on tropical biodiversity,” says the report. This has been published in the journal Conservation Letters that says with the tropical forests being cleared for rubber plantations, endangered birds, primates, mammals and other wildlife animals are losing their habitats.
Bane to biodiversity
Plantations for rubber, a most rapidly expanding crop in mainland Southeast Asia, encroach in many protected areas in the region, the study finds. The numbers of bird, bat and beetle species have decreased by 75%, and thus, scores of them are at risk of extinction as protected areas are converted to rubber plantations. The extent of clearing is wide and rapid. For example, more than 70% of the 75,000 ha Snoul Wildlife Sanctuary in Cambodia has been cleared for rubber between 2009 and 2013, according to the report.
Four biodiversity areas where rubber plantations are expanding have been highlighted in the report as Sundaland (Malay Peninsula, Borneo, Sumatra, Java, and Bali), Indo-Burma (Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, most of Myanmar and Thailand), and parts of Southwest China, (including Xishuangbanna and Hainan Island), Wallacea (Indonesian islands east of Bali and Borneo but west of New Guinea, plus Timor Leste), and the Philippines.
Rubber can thrive across a wide range of climate and soil conditions in Southeast Asia, and could replace a whole range of forest types containing large numbers of globally threatened and unique species, according to Thomas.
The study also suggests that the situation can worsen, if it is not immediately addressed.
“Our research suggests that rubber plantations are unlikely to contract anytime soon. Indeed a large part of our paper is dedicated to careful estimates of future expansion from a 2010 baseline, which suggests demand could drive expansion of new plantations until 2024,” said Thomas.
She adds that there is currently very little awareness about the effects of rubber plantation expansion on biodiversity, much less than for other plantation crops.
“This is why we wrote the paper – to stimulate interest and concern about this issue, within the industry and from the public, in the hope of reducing future impacts on highly threatened and globally irreplaceable biodiversity,” Thomas told RJA.
Authenticating eco-friendliness
The lack of certification for eco-friendliness of natural rubber material perpetuates the not-so-eco-friendly practice of sourcing rubber.
Thomas explains that with the current scenario, the market has no way of distinguishing the rubber cultivated on deforested land from the ones grown in a more sustainable way.
For this reason, a sustainability certification (for natural rubber) or other similar initiatives are being sought to integrate biodiversity into rubber plantation practices.
“There may be ways to integrate biodiversity into rubber plantation landscapes that should be researched and put into practice, and at the very least, companies that convert legally protected forests and protected species habitats to rubber should face restrictions to market access through a sustainability certification,” Thomas said.
A working action plan that has been started in 2014 by Singapore-based International Rubber Study Group (IRSG), the Sustainable Natural Rubber Initiative (SNR-i), is being developed as a voluntary and collaborative rubber industry value chain activity. Among the key objectives of the SNR-I is to support “forest sustainability through the protection/ conservation of protected areas.”
According to Thomas, “The pilot launch of the SNR-I in January this year needs support from large tyre manufacturers, and attention from sustainability researchers to ensure it gains traction.”
However, the certification system is yet to undergo its baptism of fire, as similar systems such as the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certification developed in 2004 is claimed to have made little impact to avert deforestation and greenhouse gas.
On the other hand, the report suggests that while major tyre producers such as Bridgestone (Japan), Michelin (France), Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company (US), and Continental AG (Germany) are based in economies with a stronger interest in sustainable sourcing, they supply tyres to the Chinese market. Hence, with the absence of such a standard, there is little hope for change.
China is the top rubber buyer in the world, accounting for over 30% of the total global consumption; and more than 70% of China’s rubber consumption is used for tyres.
Further on the research findings, converting lands to rubber plantations denotes serious consideration on sustainability. “We make a series of recommendations to improve the sustainability of natural rubber production, including prevention of forest/high conservation value areas being converted to rubber, research to support improving rubber plantations for biodiversity, research into the best approaches for meeting rubber demand whilst minimising environmental damage, and free, prior and informed consent of people whose land may be converted to rubber,” said Thomas.
How about increasing the use of synthetic rubber as a mitigating solution? Thomas says that, while the statistics used in the research are specifically for natural rubber, not for synthetic rubber, the latter has not fully replaced natural rubber in specific applications.
“Vehicle and aeroplane tyres require large amounts of natural rubber, which drives much of current demand. Demand for natural rubber appears to be robust, and despite synthetic alternatives apparently being used in many products, predictions suggest it has not been replaced.”
Shared responsibility
On the national level, though there are solutions being tapped to ensure the environment is safeguarded during economic activities, yet these are still inadequate to protect biodiversity.
“In some cases, government capacity is not sufficient to enforce laws that are already in place to protect people and the environment. In such cases, putting the onus on business to behave responsibly, undertake best practices in terms of environmental impact assessments, and develop a market for sustainably sourced rubber, could all help where government action may fall short,” explains Thomas.
The role of tyre manufacturers is of dire importance in supporting initiatives that promote environmental safety net, according to the UK researchers.
It is deemed as a more doable, immediate solution than reforestation. This is the case of Xishuangbanna, China, for example, where most of its original cultural and biological diversity have been lost to monoculture rubber and banana. Unproductive rubber areas are planned to be reverted back to natural forest.
“Restoring fully functioning forest ecosystems is a huge task requiring a great deal of input, knowledge and funding. A much better solution would be to undertake careful land use planning before forests are cleared, to ensure that areas of high conservation value are not converted in the first place and also that they are appropriate locations in which to grow rubber in terms of yields, and environmental impacts.”
Moreover, since demand for natural rubber is increasing, it is anticipated that new rubber plantations will be opened to meet the rising requirements.
Thomas commented: “Reforestation and restoration programmes are great if plantations are no longer in use, but we see that demand is rising, and that new plantations are being established in Southeast Asia. Tyre manufacturers could put pressure on their producers in Asia, to ensure that impacts on biodiversity there are minimised.”
The study cited that natural habitat conversion to rubber is set to continue, and regional scale simulations for MMSEA (Mainland Montane Southeast Asia) projected conversion of 4.25 million ha to rubber and other wood trees plantations by 2050.
Hence, the study suggests that the large suppliers in the tyre market should make a concerted effort to maintain sustainability in rubber plantations.