National forest regulations, particularly in the Amazon region, may undermine global targets to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, a new study published in Frontiers in Forests and Global Change has suggested.
The study, which examined carbon storage in the Peruvian Amazon, noted that current regulations around logging place large swathes of forest at risk, by permitting the harvest of the biggest trees.
“Felling trees with a diameter at breast height of at least 41cm, depending on species, releases disproportionately large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere, making the net-zero goal difficult or even impossible to achieve,” commented Dr Geomar Vallejos-Torres, principal investigator at the National University of San Martín, Peru, and an author of the study.
“Protecting these trees would also help conserve biodiversity and forest microfauna, buffering forest microclimates against future climate change.”
Peruvian rainforest
Peru boasts the second largest share of the Amazon rainforest by country, after Brazil, as well as the ninth-biggest level of forest cover in the world – storing an estimated 6.9 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents. However, according to recent data, around 150,602 hectares of Amazonian forest were lost in 2024 alone, putting additional pressure on forest ecosystems.
As the report notes, Peru’s national regulations permit trees to be harvested once they reach a minimum diameter at breast height, ranging from 41 to 61 centimetres, depending on species.
Carbon storage
In conducting the study, researchers examined five forest areas in the San Martín region of northern Peru – Ojos de Agua, Huallaga, Bajo Huallaga, Alto Mayo, and Alto Roque – and found that carbon storage increased significantly alongside trunk diameter, meaning that a smaller number of large trees accounted for most of the stored carbon.
As such, current logging regulations are ‘strongly counterproductive’, as they prioritise the trees that store the most carbon.
“The current resolution could generate serious problems for forest conservation and carbon storage,” Vallejos-Torres added.“Our results show that these largest trees are not expendable resources, but an integral part of the climate solution.” Read more here.
