Growing rubber drives more deforestation than previously thought, study finds

Description

Coverage of research published by Eleanor Warren-Thomas in Mongabay online nature news outlet: 

• A recently published study has used high-resolution satellite data to show that deforestation linked to rubber cultivation is much higher than previously thought.
• Deforestation for rubber in Southeast Asia, which produces 90% of the world’s natural rubber, was found to be “at least twofold to threefold higher” than earlier estimates.
• The underestimation of rubber-linked deforestation has led to gaps in policy setting and implementation when it comes to managing rubber cultivation, the study says.
• While synthetic rubber, made from fossil fuels, accounts for the most of the rubber produced today, rising demand for rubber overall drove the expansion of rubber plantation areas by 3.3 million hectares (8.2 million acres) from 2010-2020.