Researchers have found a “hidden” ecosystem in Colombia that is capable of storing more CO2 than the Amazon rainforest. Colombian scientists have mapped somewhere between 225,000 to 250,000 hectares (about 868–965 square miles, or 550,000–620,000 acres) of peatlands or “tuberas,” wetlands that despite looking like lakes store immense amounts of organic matter formed over Millenia.
Biologist Juan Carlos Benavides who led the expeditions across more than 100 remote sites between the Orinoquia and Amazon regions said,“Peatlands are largely invisible until you probe them.”
By drilling cores up to 40 (close to 16 inches) deep, and cross-referencing the samples with satellite imagery, the team discovered that Colombian peatlands contain an average of 490 to 1,230 metric tons of carbon per hectare. This would be close to four to ten times the storage capacity of an average Amazon forest.
Studies claim Colombia’s ‘hidden’ ecosystem is the first in South America that can hold more CO2 than the Amazon
Until recently, peatlands in the Americas where thought to be exclusively located in Canada, Peru and parts of the Patagonia. In the study, which was published earlier this in Environmental Research Letters, Benavides said, “No one imagined they existed in our Amazon, hidden by layers of leaves and water.”
Global studies estimate that peatlands cover somewhere between 3 and 4 percent of the Earth’s land surface but hold a third of the planet’s soil carbon, which is around 450 billion and 650 billion metric tons.
Peat forms when fallen leaves and roots build up in waterlogged soil, slowly decomposing and locking away carbon. Thanks to Colombia’s diverse geography and topography which includes white-sand soils, tropical savannas and dense rainforests, conditions are ideal for four main peatland types. These include palm swamps, seasonally flooded forests, open-canopy wet grasslands, and the newly described “white-sand” peatland.
Benavides partnered with Patrick Skillings of the Humboldt Institute to map the ecosystem
Over four years, Benavides and Skillings surveyed a series of remoter sites in the high Andean paramos where peatlands cover some 225,000 hectares (868 square miles) above 2,750 meters (about 9,000 feet). They also collected data in lowland reserves, logging data at roughly 2,000 verification points across national from Chingaza to Los Nevados.
According to Skilling’s estimates, these mountain peatlands alone contain between 366 and 407 teragrams of carbon–equivalent to 366–407 million metric tons. That is the roughly the same as the emissions produced if every car in Colombia ran its engine continuously for 80 years.
Despite covering only 0.2% of Colombia’s territory, compared to the 52% the rainforest covers, the peatlands represent a disproportionately large carbon bank. Skillings warned, “Their hidden nature makes them vulnerable to drainage and deforestation without our noticing.” He and Benavides have said that Colombia’s current wetland protections do not explicitly cover peatlands, which leaves these areas unregulated and vulnerable to agricultural expansion and infrastructure projects.
The importance of Colombian peatlands have been understood by local indigenous groups for a long time
Local indigenous communities like the Huioto and Puinave indigenous groups have long understood the importance of these wetlands. Using their stored water to irrigate crops during droughts and by telling myths of subterranean deities dwelling beneath the water.
Benavides highlighted that building trust with these communities was essential, as they guided the researchers to sites they would, according to him “never found” on their own.
Now that the peatlands have been mapped by Benavides and his team, researchers have urged policymakers to introduce policy specific to this ecosystem, with regulations and incentives for their restoration. “Recognizing peatlands on our official land‑use maps is the first step,” Benavides said, adding, “Only then can we monitor drainage, protect biodiversity, and safeguard this critical carbon reservoir against climate change.”