Investor Presentaiton
"As prices [of rubber] have fallen, families... have been forced to
economise. As well as eating less nutritious food... they are cutting
back on... medical advice. And as rubber-dependent families rein
in their spending, market stall-holders, petty traders, motorbike
taxi drivers and café owners are all seeing their incomes decline
too". (DFID report, Tumbang Malahoi village, Central Kalimantan, 18/5/09)
Many rubber growers turned to small-scale mining, especially gold
mining in the rivers of Central and West Kalimantan. This activity
has caused serious environmental damage and mercury pollution
of the streams, but is seen as a last resort by many cash-strapped
farmers, some of whom had previously worked in timber, but had
seen that industry decline.View entire presentation