“What makes these trees so special is still a great mystery, and it takes time and studies to unravel,” Eric Gorgens said. The professor of spatial and environmental analysis at the Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri (UFVJM) was talking about the giant red angelim (Dinizia excelsa Ducke), an Amazonian tree with heights of up to 60 meters (196 feet) found in several rainforest areas of Brazil and Guyana. But it was in the Jari River Basin, between the Brazilian states of Pará and Amapá, that angelins up to almost 90 meters high (295 feet) were discovered a few years ago, with Gorgens part of that expedition. Until then, scientists hadn’t thought trees that tall existed in the Amazon. “The tropical climate brings many difficulties to the survival of trees due to the aggressive environment, high humidity, strong winds and favorability to pests and diseases,” Gorgens added. “Despite this scenario, the tallest is between 400 and 600 years old, 88.5 meters [290 feet] tall and capable of sequestering carbon equivalent of a 1-hectare (2.4-acre) forest with an average canopy of 45 meters [147 feet].” With the United Nations COP30 to be held in 2025 in Belém, Pará, efforts to legally protect giant trees have gained momentum. In Pará, the Institute for Forestry and Biodiversity Development (Ideflor-Bio) aims to reduce the area of the Paru State Forest (Flota da Paru) — which hosts the tallest known red angelim and is the world’s third-largest sustainable-use tropical forest reserve at 3.6…This article was originally published on Mongabay
The post Experts aim to protect one of Brazil’s giant emblematic tree species first appeared on EnviroLink Network.