Sumatra's Rubber Agroforests: Advent, Rise and Fall of a Sustainable Cropping System Laurène Feintrenie1 and Patrice Levang (pdf)
All of CIFOR-ICRAF's published research is available for free online
Guide to the Sumatra Rubber Plantation Photographs Collection
How Mounting Demand for Rubber Is Driving Tropical Forest Loss Fred Pearce at Yale Environment 360
Bridgestone to Partner with the World Agroforestry Centre to Assist Rubber Tree Farmers in Indonesia
Sumatra's rubber plantations old days mixed with new ways John Hail 1985
Royal Lestari Utama: Eight years of commitment to sustainable natural rubber (Michelin flack piece: "A challenging and long-term project reflecting Michelin's All-Sustainable approach by seeking a balance between People, Profit & Planet")
Save the South Sumatra rubber farmers ANTARA News
Porsche and Michelin support Indonesian rubber plantation farmers Porsche Newsroom
Rubber World industry joournal,free access
Deconstructing sustainable rubber production: contesting narratives in rural Sumatra Fenna Otten et al. Journal of Land Use Science
Ministry Taking Steps To Bolster Rubber Industry New Sarawak Tribune
Sarawak Rubber Industry Board aims to regulate, revitalise rubber industry, says Dr Rundi Borneo Post
The Impact of Rubber on the Forest Landscape in Borneo Wil de Jong (pdf)
The Sino-Malaysian Rubber Trade, 1950-80: A Global History Journal of Global History full text
Henry Wickham Wikipedia
Amazon rubber cycle Wikipedia
Earth 20th century rubber development in Malaya
Rubber plantation areas in Malaysia (thousand hectares)
Some Economic Aspects of Rubber Land Development Schemes in Sarawak with Special Reference to the Melugu Land Development Scheme in Simanggang Second Division Sarawak Tommy Entry Akoi 1974 (no idea how to access) Fakulti Ekonomi dan Pentadbiran, Universiti Malaya
Rubber New PlantingDepartment Of Agriculture Sarawak
from Spontaneous and planned settlement in south-east Asia United Nations University
More on Sarawak (written by me ca. 2003)
Michitake Aso's History of How Rubber Plantations Reshaped Vietnam edgeeffects.net
The Harrowing History of Vietnam's Rubber Plantations saigoneer.com
Michelin Rubber Plantation Wikipedia
Vietnam wood vietnamwood.com
Things should have known about Rubberwood ssr.vn
How Vietnam's Rubberwood Industry Is Promoting Sustainable Forestry rockhillasia.com
Ribbed Smoked Rubber Sheet Production: A Review Citation International Journal of Agriculture and Biology · January 2018 (pdf)
Ribbed Smoked Rubber Sheet Production - A Review Fagbemi et al. International Journal of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering 1918 (pdf)
Natural Rubber At a Glance Michelin
From Harvest to Quality Control: A Guide to Natural Rubber Processing and Testing Prescott Instruments Ltd
The Manufacturing Process of Rubber Sciencing
High-resolution maps show that rubber causes substantial deforestation Yunxia Wang et al. Nature 18 Oct 2023 (pdf)
Countries Where Rubber is Reportedly Produced with Forced Labor and/or Child Labor Verité
Rubber Reconstructs Malaya Lynn Hollen Lees, chapter in Planting Empire, Cultivating Subjects: British Malaya, 1786–1941 (maybe accessible via Harvard)
Revealing the true extent of tropical forest loss from rubber plantations Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
The International Natural Rubber Market, 1870-1930 Zephyr Frank and Aldo Musacchio
Tire recycling Wikipedia
All About Rubber Tire Recycling: A Comprehensive Overview
Scrap Tires EPA
Scrap Tire Abatement and Management Maine Department of Environmental Protection
Tire Recycling: Technology, Innovations, News RecyclingInside
There is no mobility without tires...and no high-performance tires without natural rubber: its properties make it unique
Using the latest satellite technology and cloud computing, and a review of more than 100 case studies, the fresh evidence reveals that rubber-driven forest loss is significantly larger than previously reported estimates, which have been widely used to inform policy. Now, scientists behind the research say equitable and sustainable solutions are needed without delay.
Natural rubber is a key material used to produce a wide variety of goods, which play an important role in our daily lives — from medical devices to clothes and cutlery. With 70% of the world’s natural rubber used just for tire manufacturing, the demand for this raw material is not likely to decline anytime soon. Natural rubber is often considered to be a renewable resource, as it is mostly produced from the latex of the so-called "rubber tree" (Hevea brasiliensis), which grows in tropical regions. However, its planting practices often involve clearing natural forests, resulting in serious biodiversity loss and net carbon emissions.
The natural rubber trade underwent several radical transformations over the period 1870 to 1930. First, prior to 1910, it was associated with high costs of production and high prices for final goods; most rubber was produced, during this period, by tapping rubber trees in the Amazon region of Brazil. After 1900, and especially after 1910, rubber was increasingly produced on low-cost plantations in Southeast Asia. The price of rubber fell with plantation development and, at the same time, the volume of rubber demanded by car tire manufacturers expanded dramatically. Uncertainty, in terms of both supply and demand, (often driven by changing tire technology) meant that natural rubber producers and tire manufacturers both experienced great volatility in returns. The overall evolution of the natural rubber trade and the related tire manufacture industry was toward large volume, low-cost production in an internationally competitive environment marked by commodity price volatility and declining levels of profit as the industry matured.