Current trends of rubber plantation expansion may threaten biodiversity and livelihoods

- High demand has led to widespread conversion of marginal areas to rubber in SE Asia.
- We estimate that 57% of plantations in continental SE Asia may not be sustainable.
- There is widespread evidence for plantation failures, with severe economic impacts.
- Frequently, high-biodiversity land is converted to rubber in marginal areas.
- Current rubber planting trends thus bear a high risk of loss-loss scenarios.