From the Tree to the Street: The Story of Natural Rubber

Natural rubber is a component of many of our everyday products, such as tyres, shoes, latex gloves and mattresses. However, while demand and value creation are largely concentrated in industrialised countries, the raw material is produced almost exclusively in the Global South – primarily in Southeast Asia, but also in Latin America and Africa. Because of its unique properties, natural rubber is unrivalled - even compared to synthetic rubber or other plant-based alternatives.

However, the rubber market has been under threat for decades: hard physical labour, inconsistent incomes, inefficient rubber harvesting methods and the loss of regional biodiversity due to deforestation are leading to a decline in the number of rubber producers. The supply chains are often long and non-transparent due to their many stages. A call to action: More and more initiatives and producers are working to create deforestation-free farming regions and train smallholders in sustainable farming methods.

This is also the case in Colombia, where the shoe manufacturer "Cueros Vélez" uses soles made from sustainably produced natural rubber in its shoes. The photo gallery shows how the latex extracted from the rubber tree becomes a reliable companion on our roads.