Expansion of rubber plantation in Xishuangbanna, China resulted in many problems, such as loss of biodiversity, decrease of soil fertility, etc.
To balance economy and ecology is important. The governments paid more attentions to the sustainable development of rubber production and supported projects, such as "Environment-friendly rubber plantation construction", "Technology on enhancing carbon stock and carbon sink of rubber plantation". Tree species, green manure interplanted in rubber plantation. Biochar were used to increase soil fertility and carbon storage.
How can we balance between ecology and Economy because on side farmers and government is getting more money from sale of rubber and timber and on other side the ecological losses are increasing.
Develop measurable metrics and models that are comprehensive and pay attention to the variables that create effects of high magnitudes on outputs. Incorporate economics as well as ecological inputs and outputs in the model. If you can translate ecological impacts in economic terms (e.g. direct and indirect, short and long-term economic harm due to ecological damage) it has higher chance of being effective for business-centric decision makers. Learn from these models and apply the knowledge gained from the models to serve as a guide to mitigate the risk to ecology on existing plantations and how the future expansions could incorporate the lessons learnt with the existing plantations. For any long term developments there must always be an element of ongoing monitoring in order for achieving continuous improvement for future decisions.
Have you conducted analysis of what factors might have contributed to the loss of biodiversity and soil fertility and what was the outcome of the analysis?
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