Worries about the sustainability of agricultural goods in Southeast Asia are raised by a new study.
PUBLISHED: 19 October 2023 at 15: 37
According to a recent research study, forest loss caused by plastic production in Southeast Asia may be two to three times greater than previously thought, highlighting the difficulties importers are facing as they struggle to find responsible supplies.
An international team of researchers warned that rising global rubber demand is putting pressure on natural forests and causing biodiversity loss, with Southeast Asia, which accounts for 90 % of global production, bearing the brunt.
In a report that was published in the medical journal Nature, the researchers claimed that, in comparison to goods like soy and palm oil, earlier data suggested that rubber was an insignificant problem when it came to deforestation.
However, high-resolution satellite data suggested that forest losses” significantly exceed” earlier estimates, which helped determine more estates run by smallholders.
Since 1993, plastic crops have destroyed more than 4 million acres of woodland, with Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia accounting for two-thirds.
More than 14 million acres of the region’s area, including the two major rubber-producing provinces in China, Yunnan and Hainan, are devoted to plastic, away from 10 million in 2020.
With some plantations built during a plastic boom 20 years ago now being put to other uses after an economic downturn in 2011, full losses may be even higher.
At the end of the following year, a law will go into effect in the European Union to forbid product importers from purchasing goods that cause forest loss.
The law was initially only applicable to soybean, beef, palm oil, lumber, coconut, and coffee; rubber was later added at the EU lawmakers’ request in December.
Manufacturers had provide documentation demonstrating that their goods do not originate from land that has been deforested after 2020 in order to avoid fines.
According to Antje Ahrends of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and the study’s lead author, the laws may encourage consumers to purchase plastic from large suppliers with simpler supply stores.
It is challenging for traders and manufacturers to find precise plastic purchasing areas and to confirm that no forest has occurred due to the numerous stages in the plastic supply range and the dispersed nature of plastic manufacturing, she said.
According to her, groups like the Forest Stewardship Council are working to increase traceability for smallholders— who account for 85 % of the world’s production — and make sure their rubber can be sold in Europe. & nbsp,