A groundbreaking study reveals that Cape Froward peatlands’ carbon storage totals 1,647 tons per hectare, nearly matching tropical ecosystems.
Peatlands are known as powerful carbon stores, built up over centuries from layer upon layer of dead organic matter compressed under cold, wet, oxygen-poor conditions. Until now, little was known about exactly how much carbon they hold at the continent’s farthest corner: Cape Froward, on the Brunswick Peninsula in Chile’s Magallanes region.
A groundbreaking investigation by Rewilding Chile’s Subantarctic Ecosystem Restoration Program, carried out together with specialists from the University of Chile, measured carbon storage in the Cape Froward peatlands for the first time. The findings exceeded expectations: laboratory analysis of field samples showed that Cape Froward peatlands’ carbon storage averages 1,647 tons of carbon per hectare, three times that of nearby forests, which store an average of 536.2 tons per hectare.
Jaime Hernández, director of the Laboratory of Geomatics and Landscape Ecology at the University of Chile’s Faculty of Forest Sciences and Nature Conservation, noted that while peatlands already rank first among the world’s carbon reservoirs, the discovery that Patagonian peatlands outperform the temperate peatlands of northern Chile and even approach tropical ecosystems storing around 1,600 tons per hectare came as a surprise. Hernández had previously studied carbon reservoirs across the country, but never those at Cape Froward specifically.
These intact ecosystems remain protected by water accumulation and the site’s microtopography, with very little human disturbance, unlike in other parts of Chile, where commercial peat moss extraction for agriculture has been permitted. This lack of disturbance likely contributes to why Cape Froward peatlands’ carbon storage reaches such exceptional levels compared to sites elsewhere that have faced extraction pressure.
Alongside the carbon analysis, researchers mapped vegetation cover across the area between San Nicolás and Bahía Cordés for the first time, covering the entire continuous landmass of the Brunswick Peninsula, where Cape Froward sits. The surface comprises just over 52,000 hectares of forest and roughly 53,000 hectares of peatland, together capable of storing an estimated 115 million tons of carbon.
Researchers measured Cape Froward peatlands’ carbon storage across more than 200 field sites spanning 52,000 hectares of forest and 53,000 hectares of peatland, together capable of storing an estimated 115 million tons of carbon at the southernmost tip of the Americas. Photo by Diego Nahuel, courtesy of Rewilding Chile.
These findings confirm that subantarctic forest ecosystems function as highly efficient natural carbon reservoirs, true treasures in the fight against the climate crisis, according to Ingrid Espinoza, Conservation Director at Rewilding Chile. Beyond carbon storage, these ecosystems shelter biodiversity, hold records of what the environment looked like thousands of years ago, and remain essential to maintaining ecological balance across the region.
The research combined high-resolution mapping with extensive fieldwork, allowing the team to determine, with unprecedented precision, exactly how much carbon exists per unit volume at any given point. Researchers first identified and classified vegetation using satellite imagery, then conducted two field expeditions to measure aboveground living organic matter and collect soil and peat samples at varying depths across more than 200 designated sites. Samples were sent to the University of Chile’s Ventura Matte Laboratory for carbon content analysis, with the research team now finalizing a scientific publication detailing the full methodology and results.
Cape Froward peatlands’ carbon storage findings carry direct policy implications. Rewilding Chile is working with the Chilean state to establish a national park at Cape Froward, aiming to protect this unique territory before development pressures reach it. While other regions fight to restore already degraded ecosystems, Cape Froward represents an intact system that could play a crucial role in mitigating climate change, making its protection urgent rather than optional, according to Espinoza.
This isn’t the first time the foundation has studied carbon storage across Patagonia. In 2019, partnering with the National Geographic Society, Rewilding Chile calculated carbon storage across the 17 national parks along the Route of Parks of Patagonia, establishing the broader region as one of South America’s richest carbon sinks. The Cape Froward findings extend that body of research into previously unmeasured subantarctic terrain, reinforcing Patagonia’s outsized importance for global climate mitigation relative to its remote, sparsely populated geography.
As climate negotiations worldwide increasingly recognize the value of protecting intact carbon-rich ecosystems rather than solely restoring degraded ones, Cape Froward peatlands’ carbon storage offers a compelling case study. Protecting land that already stores carbon at exceptional levels may prove more immediately impactful than years of restoration elsewhere, provided protection is in place before disturbance begins.
