According to a study of the three large rainforest regions in the world – the Amazon, the Congo Basin and Southeast Asia – the world’s rainforests contain 42% of all carbon stored in forests, even if they only account for 33% of the forested areas.46 The carbon content of rainforests is thus significantly higher than for other forest types. The Amazon forest contains 176 billion tons of carbon (27% of all carbon in forests), more than the rainforests of the Congo Basin and Southeast Asia put together. Still, the peat forests of Indonesia top the list of most carbon per hectare of forest.47 Peat forests are increasingly being converted into plantations, and the magnitude of emissions resulting from this has global impact.

Year: 2015

From collection: State of the Rainforest

Cartographer: GRID-Arendal