Tales from the ground – how the crisis in Venezuela is destroying forests and challenging RAINFOR’s effort to help Venezuela sustain its forest science

Venezuela, home to highly biodiverse forests that cover about half its land, has some of the longest-running forest monitoring projects in the tropics. This represented a pioneering effort in understanding old-growth forest dynamics in the Amazon Basin. However, the country’s ongoing economic, institutional, and political collapse now threatens a long-standing forest plot research network and vital scientific efforts.
Some of the plots studied by the University of the Andes (ULA) date back to the 1950s, when Swiss forestry engineers Jean Pierre Veillon and Hans Lamprecht established the first research plots. Veillon himself created 72 plots across nine Venezuelan states between 1953 and 1978. These plots became part of RAINFOR, a global network of Amazonian researchers, in 2002.

Jacaranda copaia tree in the Caimital dry forest in the Venezuelan plains. Image taken during one of the RAINFOR re-measurement campaigns. Image credit: Emilio Vilanova.

Falling budgets, a humanitarian crisis affecting personnel and logistics, the rise of armed gangs, and encroachment of logging and agriculture are some of the key factors threatening to halt research in the field. These issues are compounded by the emigration of millions of Venezuelans, including technical and research staff. 2016 marked the last year with significant field measurements, and now, with a lack of permits for international funding, ongoing projects are at risk. Despite this, scientists continue to advocate for the preservation of these research efforts.
Networks like RAINFOR have enabled crucial research on tropical forests, particularly their role in mitigating climate change. “We’ve seen the Amazon’s carbon removal ability decline due to tree deaths from longer, stronger droughts,” says Emilio Vilanova, a tropical forest researcher who began monitoring forest plots with ULA in 2004. Through RAINFOR data, scientists have identified over 10,000 tree species in the Amazon, with more than half belonging to just 227 “hyperdominant” species.

“These networks are not only a part of the scientific heritage of the country, but if they are kept or expanded, they could be the base for a system to measure carbon and conserve the biodiversity of Venezuelan forests in the 21st century.” Emilio Vilanova, Wildlife Conservation Society

Despite huge challenges, ULA successfully restarted monitoring some of its oldest plots in the mountains near Mérida in 2022, with support from the Andean Forest Network. Additionally, the U.K.’s Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and ForestPlots.net are expected to issue funding soon to revisit plots not measured since 2016.

Maintaining this long-standing forest research network is crucial not only for Venezuela but for the world. “Tropical forests absorb nearly 30% of global carbon emissions, and their conservation is vital to mitigating climate change,” Vilanova concludes.