Natural Rubber coms from the Rubber tree (Hevea Brasiliensis). The harvesting of natural Latex occurs by harmless 'tapping' to remove a milky sap from the bark of the tree. Rubber tapped trees do not get chopped down in the process.
A Rubber tree consumes Carbon Dioxide (CO2) to produce elastomer (Latex). Sri Lanka is world renowned to have the best Latex available, 60% of the Latex produced is farmed an cultivated by small crop farmers and plantation workers, supplying them with much needed sustainable income and long term projects.
The Sri Lanka Rubber Institute is the oldest in the work and plays a direct roll in helping crop farmers manage, control, and reforest their Rubber plantations to full potential. It's a highly skilled and labour intensive process to top Latex and employs mainly women and villagers that were affected by the 2004 Tsunami.
Forests account for 20% of the world's surface and 25% of the world's global terrestrial carbon fixation and are the major contributor to global ecology.
After 30 years the latex yield efficiency of a Rubber tapped tree drops; it then gets chopped down and the wood is used either as a bio fuel, furniture wood or light manufacturing wood. Every time a tree is chopped, 10 new trees take its place; the constant circle plays an integral part in creating oxygen and recycling CO2 into reusable energy.
Rubber plantations play a pivotal role in reforestation. Since Rubber plantations are grown generally where other crops cannot (against radiants of hills) they are a very important part of soil conservation. Agronomic efficiency is improved as the soil directly benefits from the abundant fall of leaves from the Rubber trees. Multi-crop growing of coffee, Cocoa and Vanilla is then made possible.
There is an urgency in the worldwide concern over the accumulation of Green House Gasses, particularly CO2 and its adverse effect on global warming.
A single Rubber tree can fix and add 1 metric ton of CO2 carbon in tis 30 year cycle, one hectare can therefore add an incredible 300 tons of carbon credits in this time. Sri Lanka can contribute 42000000 MT by 2021.
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