Rubber Plantation - Green Desert

——The fourth group’ report

October 20, 2008

Group Members

Sun Rong Wang Leshi Guo Bobo Sheng Meiling Wu leya Tu Kehuan

Zhang Yucheng Hong Shaoting Chen Huiting Gao Xu Qiu Jiali Xi Yaohong

美丽而富饶的热带雨林……

Not for the timber, but for growing another plant - rubber trees

Analysis of causes

Strong using value of rubber

Temptation of the huge economic benefits

"Exclusivity" of rubber trees

Owing to its strong flexibility and good insulation, plastic, drain, air isolated, tensile and wear-resisting and other characteristics, natural rubber is widely used in industry, national defense, transportation, medical and health fields and other aspects of daily life.

Rubber plantation has ever brought a huge development space to the

sluggish economy... Owing to the success of rubber on the industrial revolution, the

price of rubber has kept soaring. A worldwide wave of rubber plantation has set off; as a result, numerous tropical rain forests are cut down, with adverse ecological consequences following.

In the 1950s, China was blockaded by the international community, the rubber, as an important strategic material resource, has become the country's most scarce resource, thus, the rubber plantation was introduced.

From 1994 to 2007, the purchase price of raw rubber was skyrocketing for 900%, encountering a new high level in 2004.

During the period of rubber tapping, those households with more rubber trees can have an income of 1000 yuan every; those households with 20 to 30 mu farmland, their annual income mounted nearly 100,000 yuan.

The income for the leading roles of sections or equivalents or for the assisting roles of sections or equivalents was far less than the income from planting several rubber trees; The income for the leading roles of divisions or equivalents or for the assisting roles of divisions or equivalents was far less than the income from some old tea trees

To ensure healthy growth of rubber trees

Spectrum herbicide

Remove the plants of re-growth

Turn and dig deep the soil to plant seedlings

Cut down and burn the original forest

Forests

Rubber plantation

This is the aerial view of mountains in Xi Shuangbanna at high altitude, the virgin forest are being gradually encroached by rubber plantation. The cultivated terraces formed up a pattern like the human fingerprints, circle around spreading, and the shape of this arrangement is convenient for the future tapping.

Xishuangbanna’s Yesterday —— In the 1950s, the rubber, as an important strategic material resource,

has become the country's most scarce resource. The success of rubber plantation in Xishuangbanna is of great significance for China.

In the 1960s, tens of thousands of educated youths has come to Xishuangbanna, participating in border construction and planting rubber.

In the late 20th century, the international prices of rubber were soaring, the rubber plantation has quickly evolved from the bits and pieces of rubber trees dotted in the rainforests 40 years ago to current boom under the wave of economic globalization. From 1994 to 2007, the purchase price of raw rubber was skyrocketing for 900%, encountering a new high level in 2004. Consequently, Xishuangbanna witnessed a “landscape” of frenzy investment in rubber, rubber plantation reselling, and selling forests land.

In 2007, Xishuangbanna has 10 large state-owned farms, 9 of which were engaged in rubber plantation, with an area of 1.5 million hectares for rubber plantation, and 149,700 farm workers.

A magnificent history of development

Xishuangbanna’s Yesterday ——

“I had seen the scene of burning dams for many times, but the scene in Jiang Feng Wu Dui was really a shock. After supper, all villagers of the whole production team were sitting on the playground, stood beside the basin and buckets filled with water, to prevent thatched houses from fire. Elder workers lighted the felled dry trees, flames into the sky, and then the mountains are burning up. Firewood cracking and fireballs roaring, it is really overwhelming.” He still remembered, when he spent the night in the mountains, looking at beautiful virgin forest with the solemn mystery in a far distance, but the nearby ones have been cultivated by them, seeming desolated, like burnt wounds.

Xishuangbanna’s Today —— “Horrific” area of rubber plantation

GIS image shows that the area of rubber plantation has grown more than a dozen times since 1976. Since 2000, new rubber plantation in Xi Shuangbanna has reached 3 million mu, with the total area of rubber planting increasing from 1.16 million mu in 1988 to 6.15 million mu, even this figure was also considered too conservative. Local residents describe Xi Shuangbanna’s rubber forest area with the word of “horrific”.

Rubber plantation has controlled people's lives

Devastating ecological damage

Xishuangbanna’s Today ——

"In the past, the mountains were heavily covered with towering trees, with large amount of Asian elephant, red deer and other wild animals, the climate is also very good, and the water is clear and sweet. However nowadays, large tracts of virgin forest were cut down, burnt out, let alone wild animals even the birds have gone, and we even on the edge of having no drink water.” villagers said.

Ecological Risk Deep forests were cut down, the

temperature rises Rainfall decreases, water tables

drops down Tropical rain forests were

ruined. Wildlife were destroyed and

even on the edge of extinction

Xi Shuangbanna’s Tomorrow ——

Where?

Such barbaric and profitable rubber tree, Its accretion must be irresistible.

While the culprit who personally supports the rubber tree, and helps it

to destroy our priceless environment is just...

Human beings themselves!

Take a look at how this "great" rubber tree

conquers the rain forests and our

conscience in our hearts step by step!

Route of transmission for rubber tree

Amazon1876锡兰

Singapore

Great Britain 1873

MalaysiaMalacca Strait

USA

Xi Shuangbanna, China

Today we can only seek the dreamy Xi Shuangbanna in the faded history. While in the world, how many "Xi Shuangbanna" are still disappearing ...

If only living with the steel and concrete, human, do you feel lonely?

In the face of "idyllic" missing, can we only sigh for it?

Go on like this, where is our future?