The Role of Old-Growth Forests in Carbon Sequestration

Protection of remaining forest and reforestation in areas where it has been lost is vital for global climate stability. Old-growth forest can be defined as mature forest where human disturbances are negligible. In terms of age, old-growth can broadly be defined as from 120 to as much as 500 years old with individual trees estimated to have reached 1,000 years old. Old-growth forest has an important role to play in efforts to halt and reverse climate change. It has the capacity to both remove atmospheric greenhouse gases and to permanently store these gases in the form of carbon.