Are the Amazon’s biggest trees dying?

As the world’s tropical forests degrade and wither ever more rapidly, the fate of their largest trees remains uncertain. These large trees store a significant quantity of carbon. It is therefore essential to assess their current mortality rates and the causes of their death, particularly as a result of intensifying climate change. Understanding these factors is essential for predicting the future decline of tropical forest carbon sinks.

The “Gigante” project, launched in the Brazilian Amazon in June 2024, is behind a cutting-edge protocol that combines drone surveys with ground verification to assess the mortality of large tropical trees. This innovative approach has also been implemented in Panama, and further studies are planned in Malaysia, Cameroon and another region of the Amazon. The knowledge gained about the health and survival of large tropical trees will improve the accuracy of climate models and provide essential data for global climate forecasting.