The Amazon is often described as one of the planet’s most effective carbon regulation systems. Yet recent data suggest its ability to absorb carbon is increasingly concentrated in specific places.
Between 2013 and 2022, nearly all of the forest’s net carbon uptake came not from the biome as a whole, but from the half of it under protection or Indigenous stewardship, reports Abhishyant Kidangoor. A new report by Amazon Conservation, based on satellite data from Planet, finds that these areas absorbed 257 million metric tons of carbon dioxide — offsetting the 255 million tons emitted from the rest of the forest.
The findings underscore a structural asymmetry in Amazonian land use. Protected areas and Indigenous territories, covering just under half the biome, store roughly 60% of its aboveground carbon. Some of the highest stocks are concentrated in the northwestern Amazon, particularly in Colombia, Brazil, Suriname and French Guiana. Many of these places are not facing immediate deforestation pressure, yet they quietly function as crucial carbon sinks.
That role, however, rarely features in climate finance models. Carbon offsetting mechanisms typically focus on “avoided emissions” — the carbon saved by preventing destruction. Areas not under threat are seen as passive and thus ineligible for funding, despite their ongoing sequestration function. This leaves intact forests, however effective as carbon absorbers, largely outside the scope of current carbon markets.
Even within protected zones, not all are sinks. Some, like Alto Purús in Peru, show carbon losses likely tied to natural causes. Others, especially in Bolivia and Venezuela, acted as net sources.
Still, the data suggest that conservation efforts anchored in stewardship, rather than merely threat avoidance, may be among the most reliable ways to maintain climate resilience. If current funding frameworks continue to overlook this, a vital part of the planet’s natural carbon infrastructure may go unrecognized — and under-resourced.
Banner image: The Zacambu River in the Peruvian Amazon. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay.
This is a summary of “New report reinforces critical role of Amazonian protected areas in climate fight” by Abhishyant Kidangoor.
