Beyond methane
Methane is the part of a forest’s value we can measure and credit, and it is a small part. When that revenue keeps a forest standing, everything else it does continues too.
Tropical forests cover a small share of the planet and hold most of its land-living species. A standing project keeps that habitat intact. Clearing it is the largest single driver of species loss on land, and none of that shows up in a carbon ledger.
A tropical forest moves large volumes of water into the air, and that moisture travels downwind as flying rivers, falling as rain on farmland hundreds of miles away. Clear the forest and that rainfall can fail with it.
Roots hold soil that would otherwise wash away, and the forest steadies the water supply for people downstream. The communities who live in and manage these landscapes have the most to gain when keeping the forest standing finally pays.
A fair question
No. Methane is the one forest value we measure and credit. These other values come free when methane revenue keeps the forest standing. Methane is enough to focus on for now. If the rest can someday be measured with the same rigor, we will take it on.
Forests are often called the lungs of the world, but a mature forest is roughly oxygen-neutral: it takes in about as much oxygen as it gives off. Among its values are carbon, biodiversity, water, and now methane.