Advancing Sustainable Rubber Production
Mapping Rubber Plantations in Southeast Asia
Our project mapped rubber plantations across Southeast Asia, contributed crucial evidence to the EU Trialogue in December 2022 and advocated for for the inclusion of rubber in new EU Regulation on Deforestation-free products. This effort led to follow-up funding from the UK Government that was aimed at integrating finance and biodiversity for a nature-positive future. It was also intended to help foster a network for efficient information exchange between academia, the rubber industry and civil society stakeholders. Our work on rubber also supported the FSC's efforts to build a greater demand base for certified natural rubber.
This article, published in Nature, in 2023 garnered global attention, including coverage in major media outlets like German Daily and Rubber World. In China, the research findings were broadcasted by 27 national, local, and industry-specific media outlets, reaching nearly 7.23 million individuals across nine media platforms.
Global Shift Towards Sustainable Practices
The trend towards sustainable and eco-friendly rubber production is driven by increased consumer awareness and regulatory pressures to reduce carbon emissions and improve environmental and social sustainability. Our project developed a geodatabase of rubber distribution, analyzing geospatial deforestation caused by rubber plantation expansion, resulting in policy recommendations that influenced the EU Regulation on Deforestation-free products.
Concentrating on Livelihoods
We conducted research into commodity-specific supply chains, discovering gender differences and opportunities to ensure gender equality today for a more sustainable tomorrow.
Xishuangbanna, in the Yunnan Province, is home to China’s rubber heartland. Selling rubber contributes half the total household income for local people. Southeast Asia is home to the production of 97% of the world’s rubber and demand is only increasing. We conducted a study to learn about the impacts of plunging prices on local livelihoods and production.
We found evidence of inequity. More specifically, women often struggled to access the same opportunities in rubber supply chains. For example, while men had access to motorcycles that enabled them to look for jobs outside of their villages when profits from rubber were reduced, women did not. Male access to motorcycles also allowed them to see market dynamics on the ground, which led them to become more informed on rubber production. This led them to take decision-making roles within their communities. Without equity in access to transport, women in the village did not have the opportunity to achieve equal outcomes in job searching and decision-making.
However, the bias towards male decision-makers was broken in some ethnic Dai villages. We found that these stereotypes were challenged in a way that is uncommon to rural China. Within these villages, women’s families tended to own more rubber trees than the families of men. As a result, husbands tended to labour on their wives’ land and women were the ones who thus controlled decisions and home finances. This is uncommon but it demonstrated that there are areas in which the common bias has been broken based upon historical, cultural and economic factors.
Commercial Guidelines and Certification Standards
Commercial guidelines and certification standards play a crucial role in promoting sustainable rubber production. These standards ensure that rubber production is sustainable and responsible. They also help growers and manufacturers adhere to environmental and social criteria. Capacity building and network establishment efforts aim to provide stakeholders with knowledge, tools and resources to enhance their capacity for sustainable rubber production and consumption. Our TRADE Hub researchers contributed to a short film by FSC on rubber farms and certification. This film included interviews from smallholders in Thailand sharing their experiences.