by By Jake Spring
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Scientists agree that protecting the Amazon rainforest is crucial to combating global warming, but new data on Wednesday suggested that huge swathes of the jungle, vital to the world’s climate, remain unprotected.
Almost 40 percent of the areas of the Amazon rainforest that are crucial for curbing climate change are not under special government protection – neither as nature reserves nor as indigenous reserves, according to an analysis by the nonprofit organization Amazon Conservation.
According to the data, the areas are located in the extreme southwest of the Amazon in Peru and in the extreme northeast in Brazil, French Guiana and Suriname.
These parts of the Amazon have the largest and densest trees and the densest canopy cover, says Matt Finer, head of Amazon Conservation’s Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project (MAAP).
This means that these areas have the highest carbon content, which would be released into the atmosphere as a climate-warming greenhouse gas if destroyed by fire or deforestation.
“It basically just provides an overall roadmap for some of the most carbon-rich areas that need to be protected,” Finer said.
“They actually show the most pristine parts of the Amazon that are left.”
The data, which indicate the exact location and protection status of these areas, were initially released exclusively to Reuters.
Amazon Conservation analyzed new data from satellite imaging company Planet, which used lasers to create a three-dimensional image of the forest and combined it with machine learning models.
Only above-ground vegetation was taken into account, not below-ground carbon in roots and soil.
The MAAP analysis shows that 61 percent of the highest carbon-emitting areas in the Amazon are protected as indigenous reserves or other conservation areas, but the rest generally have no official designation.
In Brazil, Suriname and French Guiana, the level of protection is lower: only 51 percent of the areas with the highest carbon emissions are designated as protected areas.
Peru protects much of its critical areas, but some of the unprotected areas are slated for deforestation.
MAAP released an analysis last month showing that the Amazon contains 71.5 billion tons of carbon, roughly double global carbon dioxide emissions for 2022.
This analysis found that in the decade up to 2022, the Amazon absorbed barely more carbon than it released – a positive signal for the global climate.
But this area remains the subject of intense debate, as other studies show that the Amazon has now become a source of emissions.
(Reporting by Jake Spring; Editing by Sandra Maler)
