Wanakaset (meaning: agroforestry and self-reliance in Thai) rubber gardens integrate rubber trees with a great variety of other species, including ginger, black pepper, bananas, rambutans, and coconuts. This type of agroforestry is a traditional way Thai people cultivated the forest before western influences initiated a shift to monocropped plantations.

Wanakaset agroforestry creates economic resilience and diversification for rubber farmers. Each farm is a unique expression of the 
farmer’s ingenuity and adaptation to their local ecological conditions. Cooperatives exchange bioancestral knowledge, seedlings, and equipment. ​

These rubber gardens come to resemble the native rainforest and create positive feedback loops for the surrounding ecosystems, restoring and supporting biodiversity beyond the farmers’ crops.

Thanks to the cooler microclimate generated 
on these more ecologically sound rubber farms, harvesting of the rubber can happen in the morning instead of in the middle of the night. This improves the quality of life for farmers. Additionally, farmers report greater peace and well-being while in their rubber gardens.

Because Wanakaset agroforestry incorporates a wide range of other food and material crops, this farming system diversifies and stabilizes incomes as well.

Farmers can sell this traceable rubber at a premium due to its environmental benefits and more valuable grade, and they can make additional income from selling farm ecological data, such as carbon sequestration and biodiversity data.​

Our work to develop a latex supply chain, 
in particular, will open up new economic opportunities: in addition to experiencing higher yields from Wanakaset agroforestry compared to monocropped plantations, ​farmers can roughly double their income selling latex compared to cup lump rubber on a per kilogram basis.

We launched this project in late 2023 and expect to receive Wanakaset rubber in the second half of 2024.

As a materials startup, we have the opportunity to drive change both upstream and downstream of our operations. Establishing regenerative supply chains is some of the most important ecological work we can do, and it’s only possible because we’ve developed technology that leverages biobased inputs.