Protected forests in Southeast Asia are threatened by the world’s growing demand for rubber tyres, according to new research from the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia. But scientists say agroforestry is one measure that can reduce the impact.

The BBC reports on research that estimates up to 8.5 million hectares (roughly the land area of Austria) of new rubber plantations are needed to meet the demand for rubber and this could have a "catastrophic" impact on wildlife.

"There's a lot we can do as scientists and the public to make rubber production more wildlife-friendly," said Dr Matthew Struebig of the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, University of Kent, UK. “It can range from agroforestry - mixing rubber with other trees - to retaining patches of natural vegetation along rivers or in small conservation set-asides, as is done in organic farming in Europe.

“Rubber is the most rapidly expanding tree crop within mainland Southeast Asia,” says the article. The establishment of new plantations is likely to require the clearing of tropical forests, putting “endangered birds, bats and primates at risk,” say the researchers. They liken the problem to that of oil palm.

In studying 4 biodiversity hotspots in which rubber plantations are expanding, the researchers found that numbers of bird, bat and beetle species can decline by up to 75% in forests that have been converted to rubber.

The researchers are calling on tyre manufacturers to support initiatives such as certification schemes which are key to protecting forests.

Read the full story: Demand for rubber ‘threatens forest’

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