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Tapping into success

How rubber may hold the key to conserving a tropical rain forest

A grove of tall trees in the sunlight

Amidst a sea of oil palm plantations and deforested land on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia, lies one of the last strongholds for biodiversity here, a rain forest known as Thirty Hills. Within the Thirty Hills forest resides a company known as PT ABT, which is managing around 100,000 acres of this forest as an ecosystem restoration concession. In other words, this is a company working to drive profit from the conservation and restoration of the forest instead of from clearing it, all the while partnering with the local and Indigenous communities who live in or near the forest concession.

It’s an ambitious plan, but a critical one, as the threat of illegal logging and forest clearing remains in constant waiting on the forest’s borders. The success of this company’s mission, which is to manage the recovery of this forest, relies on successful and fruitful business ventures that can turn a profit and fund PT ABT’s long-term forest protection and community engagement efforts. One enterprise that could prove to hold the key to long-term profitability is in the rubber market, and PT ABT has been developing a business plan that taps into the popularity of rubber as a sought-after material for producers – here’s how they’re doing it:

The demand for rubber

PT ABT is located in Jambi Province, which is in the epicenter of Indonesia’s rubber production hub---central Sumatra. The Asia-Pacific region is the largest producer of natural rubber, accounting for over 85% of global production. The region is also the largest user of natural rubber in the world. The automotive industry is the main driver for this market, requiring more than 75% of global natural rubber to make tires. Chances are you drive on tires that originated in this region, since all major tire brands rely on sourcing from Indonesia. In addition to its global exports, Indonesia also has a large domestic rubber market, with a lot of its rubber coming from Jambi. Driven by consumer demand and stricter import laws in Europe, there has been a rising global demand for eco-friendly and renewable products derived from natural rubber, opening up the potential for invested interest in a sustainable rubber market.

A bucket fills with sap from a rubber tree
Collecting latex from tapping a rubber tree.
A person observing a tap in a tree that is dripping sap into a bucket
Inspecting a rubber tree in the Thirty Hills forest.

Road map to success

On the Thirty Hills concession’s doorstep and within its borders are rubber trees. Given rubber’s prevalence in and around the concession, in the form of jungle rubber and monoculture plantations, and the increasing market demand, PT ABT and WWF have begun implementing business plans for sustainable rubber production. Jungle rubber refers to single or small clusters of rubber trees planted in forest openings that over time become integrated into the forest’s biodiversity.

Rubber trees can restore and rehabilitate deforested areas in the concession, while also contributing to local communities’ livelihoods. Many of the local families also have rubber farms of their own, passing down the tradition of producing rubber through generations. In Indonesia, rubber cultivation is one of the few legally allowed and ecologically friendly ways for local communities to make a living inside or adjacent to an ecosystem restoration concession. About 1,000 hectares of rubber plantations across ten farmer groups exist in the Thirty Hills concession. PT ABT is developing formal partnerships with these farmer groups to support trade of their rubber at higher prices, ensuring sustainable production practices and rubber quality meet international standards, with full traceability back to their plantations.

Challenges ahead

PT ABT has been making progress on developing these community collaborations, but all roads to success are paved with obstacles and uncertainties. There are several challenges impacting efforts to institute a sustainable rubber business model, the first of which simply has to do with supply and quality.

A person uses a knife to cut the bark from a tree while others watch

Tapping a rubber tree in the Thirty Hills landscape.

Developing a rubber business requires trade in large volumes. This necessitates partnerships with communities who have plantations outside of the Thirty Hills forest concession, but establishing these partnerships can be slow.

Supplies are also impacted by tree diseases and weather patterns. Poor weather conditions not only impact the supply levels but also the quality of the rubber. Heavy rainstorms can make transport time-consuming and expensive due to poor road infrastructure.

Many farmers also currently sell their low-quality rubber to buyers at cheap prices. Because they aren’t being adequately compensated, there is the risk that these farmers will consider cutting down their rubber plantations in favor of a palm oil producing one that they perceive as more lucrative, despite oil palm plantation development in the Thirty Hills landscape being illegal. The Thirty Hills concession is in an area of high deforestation risk from ongoing illegal activity, and commodity-driven deforestation for palm oil, timber, and pulp wood has long been an issue. ABT is working with farmers to increase the quality of their raw rubber latex to improve the price they can get for it.

Despite all this, a successful rubber business is critical for uplifting local communities out of poverty and ensuring a profitable, sustainable business for PT ABT that in the long run conserves the Thirty Hills forest and the wildlife it provides habitat for. PT ABT and WWF are mapping where rubber can be planted in the concession and will begin the process for the farmer groups to acquire Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) certification for the rubber that will be produced. Meeting this global standard will allow farmers to negotiate better prices for the rubber they tap in the Thirty Hills forest and improve their income. But first, the immediate priority is to continue strengthening the relationship with the communities to continue building trust and cooperation. If successful, the model being pioneered in Thirty Hills could be adopted in other tropical deforestation hotspots, delivering far-reaching benefits for nature, climate and people.

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