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Highlights: [•] Rubber monoculture expanded from 1% to 22% since 1970s in Xishuangbanna. [•] Carbon stocks and biodiversity has been reduced from rubber monoculture expansion. [•] Social issues such as food security, lack of healthcare and education might be the cause from immigrants of labor force. [•] Conservation oriented landscape design could help to balance between economic development and conservation. [•] Carbon trading scheme might not be able to save irreplaceable forest biodiversity in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Spatially-explicit models of economic value for rubber plantations are created for the Menglun township, Yunnan, China. [•] Forest recovery on low-profit rubber plantations is an easily affordable policy option and encompasses 7% of the township's area. [•] Rubber plantations situated above 900m elevation or on slopes >24° were never profitable and forest should be restored. [•] In Xishuangbanna, natural areas with highest alpha biodiversity spatially coincide with the most profitable rubber sites. [•] Reforestation of high-profit rubber plantations will gain higher biodiversity but will require adequate government subsidies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Substantial human-elephant conflict (HEC) exists in Xishuangbanna, China as elephants destroy high-value rubber crops. [•] We developed a spatially-explicit, risk-based insurance model designed to support fair compensation payouts for rubber depredation. [•] Farmers were willing to contribute to insurance premiums, under the assumption of future full loss indemnity. [•] Tourists represent a potentially important source of financing for elephant conservation and insurance payments. [•] A sustainable HEC insurance system will require buy-in from all stakeholders, improved transparency and accountability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]