The loss of natural habitat forces some wildlife species to extend their habitats into farmlands. This often leads to increasing conflicts with people as wild animals consume or damage cultivated crops. Despite the increasing extent of land area covered by rubber, relatively little information is available on conflicts with wildlife in rubber plantations.

In a study published in Integrative Conservation, researchers tried to seek how rubber plantations affect wildlife in Thailand. They assessed the presence and diversity of mammalian wildlife and damage occurrence in such rubber landscapes in southern Thailand, in and around Tai Rom Yen National Park.  

The researchers interviewed 180 farmers about wildlife visits to their farms and the resulting damage. They conducted 50 transect walks within and adjacent to a natural forest and deployed camera traps at the boundary between the plantations and the forest, as well as deeper into the forest, to assess wildlife presence.  

The results showed that species’ presence and diversity were far lower in the farmland compared with the adjacent natural forest. Moreover, >70% of the wildlife species found in the forest were also present at the forest-farmland boundary. Elephants were responsible for 90% of the damage incidents in the rubber plantations, with the majority of this damage restricted to young plants. While almost half of all the respondents experienced elephants visiting their farm, less than half reported any damage. 

The findings suggest that rubber-dominated landscapes surrounding protected areas have the potential to facilitate coexistence between people and certain wildlife species. As rubber is very rarely consumed and the damage was restricted almost exclusively to young plants, one key strategy for ensuring peaceful coexistence between people and elephants in rubber-dominated areas lies in the protection of young trees.