Belize’s first national peatland inventory changes the carbon map beneath its wetlands

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.

Wild Lands Ecological Intelligence Editor
Wild Lands Institute · 25 September 2026

Belize’s first national peatland inventory changes the carbon map beneath its wetlands — Levi Novey / U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service — illustrative Honduras–Belize landscape image, not study-site peatland documentation. · Public Domain (USFWS) · Rights: Public domain

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 ↗