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# Belize’s first national peatland inventory changes the carbon map beneath its wetlands
- URL: https://intelligence.wildlandseco.com/2026-09-25-belize-peatland-carbon-inventory/
- Published: 2026-09-25T11:24:38.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-25T11:24:38.000Z
- Description: Field-informed mapping estimates peatlands beneath roughly 6% of Belize’s land area and about 165 million tonnes of stored carbon, with mangrove and non-mangrove systems contributing differently than earlier accounting implied.
- Author: Benjamin Worlund
- Tags: Belize peatlands, mangroves, wetland carbon, national inventory, Wetlands, Carbon, Climate, Mapping, #ecological-intelligence, #brief-2026-09-25, #priority-read, #peer-reviewed, #geo-latin-america-caribbean

Evidence

Peer-reviewed

Geography

Belize

System

Tropical peatlands / mangroves / freshwater wetlands

## WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS

The first national peatland assessment for Belize maps about 1,380 km² of peatland—roughly 6% of national land area—and estimates 165 ± 10 Mt of stored carbon. Mangrove peatlands account for about 115 ± 7 Mt and non-mangrove peatlands about 50 ± 6 Mt; some coastal peat deposits exceed eight meters and began accumulating around 7,500 calibrated years ago.

## WHY IT MATTERS / OUR READ

Vegetation maps and peat-carbon maps are not interchangeable. Carbon accounting, land-use planning and wetland protection can change substantially when the soil system beneath mangroves and freshwater wetlands is measured directly rather than inferred from surface cover.

## CAVEATS / UNCERTAINTY

This is a national inventory estimate derived from mapped extent plus field cores and geochemical measurements, not an exhaustive census of every peat body. Carbon-stock estimates depend on mapped boundaries, peat depth, bulk density and methodological choices; only about 29% of mapped peatlands were within designated protected areas.

## SOURCE

Scientific Reports  
[View original evidence ↗](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-69779-7?ref=intelligence.wildlandseco.com)

From the Morning Brief · 2026-09-25

[Read the full Morning Brief →](https://intelligence.wildlandseco.com/morning-brief-2026-09-25/)