- Draft UN climate pact leaves open thorny question of money
- Two giant pandas arrive in US from China aboard 'Panda Express'
- Musiala and Upamecano return to Bayern training
- Wirtz return 'unclear' after injury on Germany duty
- Ghulam says 'wait is over' after century on Pakistan debut
- Boeing to raise up to $25 bn as strike weighs on finances
- Two giant pandas arrive in US from China
- Japan hold Australia, S. Korea and China win in World Cup qualifying
- Mbappe's golden-boy image takes a hit amid negative headlines
- Hezbollah threatens to attack targets across Israel
- Oil prices fall on easing Middle East fears
- Wales lock Jenkins to miss November Tests with 'horrible' injury lay-off
- France to play Israel in Paris and allow fans in
- Twin panda cubs to make public debut at Berlin zoo
- Scotland's Kinghorn maintains Lions 'dream' despite Toulouse clash
- Pakistan debutant Ghulam hits century to defy England in second Test
- Boeing announces intention to raise up to $25 bn
- Tuchel 'in talks with FA' over England manager's job
- Dutch rider Lavreysen targets record at world track championships
- Bangladesh suspend Hathurusingha as coach after alleged assault
- Russian Olympic chief announces surprise resignation
- Ferguson to leave Man Utd ambassador role as club cuts costs
- Turkish govt defends tax plan to fund defence industry
- Oil prices tumble on easing Middle East fears
- Eidevall quits as Arsenal Women head coach
- US, Philippines launch war games after China's Taiwan drills, ship collision
- Swedish prosecutor confirms 'rape' probe without naming Mbappe
- England dismiss Ayub but Pakistan reach 173-3 at tea in second Test
- Israel vows to put 'national interest' first in response to Iran attack
- Oil prices hit by easing Middle East fears, most Asian markets rise
- Mbappe-PSG salary row faces hearing as France captain cited in 'rape' report
- K-pop star tells South Korea lawmakers of workplace bullying
- Ex-Wallabies captain Elsom denies wrongdoing after arrest warrant
- Pakistan 79-2 at lunch in second England Test after Leach strikes
- Hopes pinned on peace across Taiwan Strait after drills
- Valencia fans leave Singapore with 'stern warning' after protest
- Falling sales cause sour grapes for iconic Portugal wine
- Belgian pathologist and literary star gives 'voice to the dead'
- Ethiopia's 'korale' recyclers turn waste into money
- Italy row, AI in focus at world's biggest book fair
- US, Philippines launch war games a day after China's Taiwan drills
- Scotland lock Gray signs for Japan's Toyota
- Allen and Bills foil Rodgers, outlast Jets 23-20
- North Korea blows up roads connecting it to the South
- East Timor fights new battles 25 years after independence vote
- Japan election campaigns kick off for Oct 27 vote
- Home runs propel Mets, Yankees to MLB playoff victories
- Taiwan detects record 153 Chinese military aircraft after drills
- Oil prices drop on easing fears over Middle East, most markets rise
- Reoxygenating oceans: startups lead the way in Baltic Sea
RIO | -1.52% | 66.685 | $ | |
BTI | 0.22% | 35.529 | $ | |
CMSC | 0.44% | 24.8 | $ | |
SCS | 0.99% | 13.11 | $ | |
JRI | 0.26% | 13.12 | $ | |
BP | -3.54% | 30.895 | $ | |
BCE | 3.14% | 33.615 | $ | |
RBGPF | 1.67% | 60.5 | $ | |
CMSD | 0.26% | 25.045 | $ | |
RYCEF | -0.57% | 6.99 | $ | |
NGG | 1.02% | 67.58 | $ | |
GSK | 0.41% | 39.29 | $ | |
BCC | -0.25% | 142.62 | $ | |
RELX | 2.08% | 48.385 | $ | |
AZN | -0.44% | 77.755 | $ | |
VOD | 0.15% | 9.695 | $ |
Deforestation caused by rubber vastly underestimated: study
Deforestation for rubber cultivation has been "substantially underestimated", and is two to three times higher than generally assumed, a new study said Wednesday.
Using satellite data and cloud computing, scientists said they compiled the first detailed accounting of deforestation for rubber production in Southeast Asia -- which accounts for most of global production.
It suggests more than four million hectares of forest have been lost since 1993, and reveals that rubber has been planted in areas that are key for biodiversity.
The authors warn their estimates may be an undercount because of limitations such as cloud cover on satellite images, which complicates calculations.
"Our direct remotely sensed observations show that deforestation for rubber is at least twofold to threefold higher than suggested by figures now widely used for setting policy," said the research in the journal Nature.
More than 90 percent of global rubber cultivation occurs in Southeast Asia, and the crop has long been associated with deforestation.
The scale of the problem has been hard to quantify, however, and figures are sometimes estimated based on national reports of crop expansion that are inaccurate or incomplete.
Most rubber is cultivated by smallholders, in plots that have been difficult to pick out in imaging in the past.
The study uses newly available, higher resolution satellite imagery and compares it with historical imagery analysed by a computer programme.
The analysis is possible in part because of the rubber plant's distinct characteristics -- it loses and regrows foliage at different times from tropical forest plants.
- EU 'substantially exposed' -
The analysis found mature rubber plantations covered 14.2 million hectares in Southeast Asia in 2021, mostly in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.
It suggested an estimated 4.1 million hectares were cleared for rubber between 1993 and 2016 alone.
And it found a million hectares of rubber plantations in regions designated Key Biodiversity Areas, as of 2021.
The researchers acknowledged some shortcomings and uncertainties, including clouds that covered some regions.
On islands in Southeast Asia, different climate conditions and seasonality mean that rubber trees lose and regrow their leaves at different times from elsewhere in the region, making it harder to distinguish them from other plants.
They also acknowledged that their calculation of deforestation is based on the conversion of any planted area to rubber.
So areas converted from agroforestry or other crops to rubber plantations were counted as "deforested".
Overall, however, the researchers believe their count is likely to be an underestimate of the total area planted for rubber and the effect of rubber cultivation on deforestation.
That is partly because of the challenges in capturing all cultivation from space, and also because only rubber plantations still functioning in 2021 were examined for signs of previous deforestation.
Rubber plantations abandoned before 2021 were not counted, even though they might have caused deforestation.
The study only covers Southeast Asia, though rubber is also cultivated in parts of Africa and South America.
The researchers argue more focus is needed on rubber as a driver of deforestation, including in new legislation being developed by the European Union and others.
As only a handful of companies account for most of the natural rubber consumed globally, "it should be assumed that main importers of rubber such as the EU are substantially exposed to rubber-related deforestation", the study warned.
A.Malone--AMWN