EcoRubber project concerns the environmental consequences of rubber tree plantations as a study case of the land use changes currently observed in Asia in a context of fast growing population and economical development. EcoRubber is organised around four work packages: i) socio-economic consequences ii) soil functional diversity, iii) nutrient cycling and iv) carbon sequestration. The measurements will be undertaken in rubber tree plantations of different ages (chronosequence) or with different management and intercropping practices. To study these complex and interrelated aspects, our project associates Thai and Lao lecturers and researchers with complementary skills: socio-agronomist, agricultural system specialists, tree physiologists, agronomists, soil ecologists, soil physicists and soil microbiologists.

The goal of EcoRubber project is to strengthen the capacity of our team, in order to study the environmental impacts of any other future land use changes. 

The skills of our team will be useful beyond the borders of our countries because ecology and particularly soil ecology are still poorly taught in South-East Asia (SEA). To add an ecological flavour to agronomical sciences is particularly relevant in SEA, which undergoes constant land use changes due to economical and environmental constraints.

Mr Dr Supat Isarangkool Na Ayutthaya, KKU, project leader.

Mr Dr Christian Hartmann, IRD correspondent.