How much carbon dioxide does an acre of rainforest absorb?
Mature standing forests are close to equilibrium with regards carbon dioxide. Growing trees, however, do absorb carbon dioxide and store this within the woody biomass. Our carbon projects are based on a 20 year accounting period and the growth rate throughout the 20 years is not constant. In 2005 we carried out our own carbon stock inventory in Ecuador and our results suggest an acre of growing forest will absorb 75 tonnes of carbon dioxide over a 20 year period. An acre of the mature forest stores 109 tonnes of carbon dioxide on average.
