Exploring New Frontiers of Environment Conservation : The Case of Rubber Plantations

The polemics encompassing development and environment conservation during the last two decades have failed to evolve a consensus on appropriate policy interventions in the specific regional,social and ecological contexts. The experience of the prescribed afforestation programmes in the denuded forests and wastelands of the developing counties exhibited serious limitations in terms of economic viability and agronomic sustainability. Among the Eco-friendly alternatives for the afforestation programmes, the case of rubber (Hevea Brasiliensis) plantations merit serious attention based on its reported agronomic sustainability, carbon sequestering effect and ancillary source of income