This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$32.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on SpringerLink
- Instant access to the full article PDF.
USD 39.95
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Data availability
All data are from published sources as referenced in the text.
References
Wang, Y. et al. High-resolution maps show that rubber causes substantial deforestation. Nature 623, 340–346 (2023).
Xiao, C. et al. Latest 30-m map of mature rubber plantations in Mainland Southeast Asia and Yunnan province of China: spatial patterns and geographical characteristics. Porg. Phys. Geogr. Earth Environ. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309133320983746 (2021).
Hurni, K. & Fox, J. The expansion of tree-based boom crops in mainland Southeast Asia: 2001 to 2014. J. Land Use Sci. 13, 198–219 (2018).
Pendrill, F., Persson, U. & Kastner, T. Deforestation risk embodied in production and consumption of agricultural and forestry commodities 2005-2017. Zenodo https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4250532 (2020).
Hoang, N. T., Potapov, P., Olafsson, P. & Kanemoto, K. Accuracy of rubber-related deforestation maps. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08847-w (2025).
Sheil, D., Descals, A., Meijaard, E. & Gabeau, D. Rubber planting and deforestation. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08848-9 (2025).
Why Natural Rubber Must be Kept in the EU’s Anti-Deforestation Law (Mighty Earth, 2021).
Impact Assessment—Minimising the Risk of Deforestation and Forest Degradation Associated With Products Placed on the EU Market. Part 1/2 (European Commission, 2021); ec.europa.eu/environment/forests/pdf/SWD_2021_326_1_EN_Deforestation%20impact_assessment_part1.pdf.
Grogan, K., Pflugmacher, D., Hostert, P., Mertz, O. & Fensholt, R. Unravelling the link between global rubber price and tropical deforestation in Cambodia. Nat. Plants 5, 47–53 (2019).
Goldman, E., Weisse, M. J., Harris, N. & Schenider, M. Estimating the Role of Seven Commodities in Agriculture-Linked Deforestation: Oil Palm, Soy, Cattle, Wood Fiber, Cocoa, Coffee, and Rubber Technical Note (World Resources Institute, 2020).
Pendrill, F., Persson, U. M., Godar, J. & Kastner, T. Deforestation displaced: trade in forest-risk commodities and the prospects for a global forest transition. Environ. Res. Lett. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab0d41 (2019).
EU Regulation 2023/1115 on Deforestation-free Products (EU, 2023); eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32023R1115.
Persson, M., Kastner, T. & Pendrill, F. Flawed Numbers Underpin Recommendations to Exclude Commodities From EU Deforestation Legislation (Focali Brief, 2021).
Turubanova, S., Potapov, P. V., Tyukavina, A. & Hansen, M. C. Ongoing primary forest loss in Brazil, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Indonesia. Environ. Res. Lett. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aacd1c (2018).
Jayathilake, H. M., Jamaludin, J., De Alban, J. D. T., Webb, E. L. & Carrasco, L. R. The conversion of rubber to oil palm and other landcover types in Southeast Asia. Appl. Geog. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2022.102838 (2023).
FAOSTAT. Area Harvested. Natural Rubber in Primary Forms. Rome (FAO, accessed 1 November 2024).
Bourgoin, C. et al. Global Map of Forest Cover 2020—Version 2 (European Commission, Joint Research Centre; 2024); data.europa.eu/89h/e554d6fb-6340-45d5-9309-332337e5bc26.
Mazur, E. et al. Science Based Targets for Land Version 0.3: SBTN Natural Lands Map: Technical Documentation (Science Based Targets Network, 2023).
Lesiv, M. et al. Global forest management data for 2015 at a 100 m resolution. Sci. Data 9, 199 (2022).
Wohlfart, C., Wegmann, M. & Leimgruber, P. Mapping threatened dry deciduous dipterocarp forest in south-east asia for conservation management. Trop. Conserv. Sci. 7, 597–613 (2014).
Koh, L. P. & Wilcove, D. S. Is oil palm agriculture really destroying tropical biodiversity? Conserv. Lett. 1, 60–64 (2008).
Matos, F. A. R. et al. Secondary forest fragments offer important carbon and biodiversity cobenefits. Glob. Change Biol. 26, 509–522 (2020).
Chazdon, R. L. et al. The potential for species conservation in tropical secondary forests. Conserv. Biol. 23, 1406–1417 (2009).
Rerkasem, K. et al. Consequences of swidden transitions for crop and fallow biodiversity in Southeast Asia. Hum. Ecol. 37, 347–360 (2009).
Hoang, N. T. & Kanemoto, K. Mapping the deforestation footprint of nations reveals growing threat to tropical forests. Nat. Ecol. Evol. 5, 845–853 (2021).
Global Forest Review. Data and Methods (World Resources Institute, 2024); research.wri.org/gfr/data-methods.
The State of the World’s Forests 2020. Forests, Biodiversity and People (FAO, UNEP, 2024); https://doi.org/10.4060/ca8642en.
Fox, J., Castella, J.-C. & Ziegler, A. D. Swidden, rubber and carbon: can REDD+ work for people and the environment in Montane Mainland Southeast Asia? Glob. Environ. Change 29, 318–326 (2014).
Fu, Y. et al. Smallholder rubber plantation expansion and its impact on local livelihoods, land use and agrobiodiversity, a case study from Daka, Xishuangbanna, southwestern China. Int. J. Sustain. Dev. World Ecol. 16, 22–29 (2009).
Rubber barons: how Vietnamese companies and international financiers are driving a land-grabbing crisis in Cambodia and Laos. Global Witness (13 May 2013); globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/land-deals/rubber-barons/.
Hansen, M. C., Stehman, S. V. & Potapov, P. V. Quantification of global gross forest cover loss. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 107, 8650–8655 (2010).
Zalles, V., Harris, N., Stolle, F. & Hansen, M. C. Forest definitions require a re-think. Commun. Earth Environ. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01779-9 (2024).
Chazdon, R. L. et al. When is a forest a forest? Forest concepts and definitions in the era of forest and landscape restoration. Ambio 45, 538–550 (2016).
Azizan, F. A., Astuti, I. S., Young, A. & Abdul Aziz, A. Rubber leaf fall phenomenon linked to increased temperature. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2023.108531 (2023).
Acknowledgements
This work was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NE/Z503368/1) and the UK Research and Innovation’s Global Challenges Research Fund (UKRI GCRF) through the Trade, Development and the Environment Hub project (project number ES/S008160/1). E.W.-T. was supported Natural Environment Research Council NERC-IIASA Collaborative Fellowship (NE/T009306/1). H.C., Y.S. and J.X. were supported by Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences, CAS, grant no. QYZDY-SSW-SMC014. The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh is supported by the Scottish Government’s Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services Division. We thank C. Ryan for comments on the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Y.W., A.A., J.G., D.Z. and S.H. performed analyses. A.A., P.M.H., Y.W., J.G., C.D.W., D.Z. and S.H. wrote the manuscript, with contributions and feedback from K.H., H.C., E.W.-T., Y.S. and J.X.
Corresponding authors
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wang, Y., Hollingsworth, P.M., Zhai, D. et al. Y. Wang et al. reply. Nature 644, E23–E26 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08849-8
Published:
Version of record:
Issue date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08849-8
