Peru’s amazon peatlands hold massive carbon stores as indigenous communities lead conservation efforts

In Peru’s northern Amazon, along the banks of the Pastaza River, Indigenous communities are witnessing a remarkable transformation in how they protect one of the world’s most critical carbon repositories. Kietre Gonzales, a member of the Recreo Native Community from the Kichua people, recalls how just 15 years ago, his community regularly cut down aguaje palms (Mauritia flexuosa) to harvest their wine-red fruit, unknowingly damaging vital ecosystems.

“Fifteen years ago, we ourselves were destroying them,” Gonzales explains, standing beneath the broad leaves of surviving aguaje palms. “We used to cut down the aguaje palm to harvest its fruit, leaving empty spaces where other kinds of weeds would grow. We started cutting them down because there were no initiatives to protect them.”

Today, these communities understand the critical importance of preserving the aguajales—swampy palm forests that are integral to the Pastaza River Fan Wetland Complex. This remarkable ecosystem contains some of the world’s deepest peatlands, extending more than 8.1 meters (26.6 feet) deep, making it the third-deepest tropical peatland system globally, after regions in Indonesian Borneo and Central Kalimantan.

The peat bogs beneath these palm forests represent one of Earth’s largest carbon reservoirs, storing vast amounts of carbon that would otherwise contribute to climate change if released into the atmosphere. As Gonzales now says with newfound understanding: “Now we understand that we must not cut down the trees of the Amazon.” This shift in perspective highlights how Indigenous knowledge and conservation efforts are becoming crucial for protecting these irreplaceable ecosystems.