The Xingu Indigenous Park in the Amazon may contain more than 91,000 hectares of dark earth Leo F Freitas/Getty Images
Rich soil in the Amazon cultivated over centuries by Indigenous communities may store billions of tonnes of carbon, suggesting that the rainforest plays an even larger role in stabilising the global climate than previously thought.
The soil, known as 鈥渢erra preta鈥 or 鈥渄ark earth鈥 for its distinctive colour, is formed by people spreading ash and other organic waste around settlements. It is more fertile than the region鈥檚 typically sandy, nutrient-poor soils, and stores around double the carbon. In some…
