How does Wilderness International arrive at the figure of 60 kg of CO2 being permanently sequestered per square meter of rainforest, and how much CO2 does an average forest in Germany sequester by comparison?

To measure_{CO2 storage} in protected areas, Wilderness International uses the scientifically recognized method of calculating above-ground living biomass. This method is also used, for example, for greenhouse gas reporting for German forests.

Using so-called allometric formulas, the actual biomass at the sites can be determined by converting easily measurable parameters such as tree circumference. Allometry describes the relationship between different tree measurements and biomass. Despite detailed measurements on permanent experimental plots in the protected areas, the actual values vary depending on the time and place of determination. Therefore, a general approximation value of 60 kg_CO2 per m² was established.

Our protected areas are expected to store an additional 0.5 kg_{of CO2} per square meter per year. In addition to our measurements, regular transparent updates are carried out using high-resolution drone flights, biodiversity research results, and periodic remeasurements of the biomass storage test areas in the forests to determine the_{amount of CO2} stored and the increase.

If you want to know exactly how, you are welcome to here how we measured and calculated everything. 

The independent process report by Rainer Kant (BAUM e.V.) has confirmed that our calculations regarding the CO2 storage capacity of our protected areas and the annual increase are plausible. "[The calculation] is at the upper end of the typical values for intact primary forests in the tropics and temperate rainforests – and is particularly realistic if, as is the case with WI, 1) old, intact stands are protected, 2) deforestation or degradation is excluded, and 3) a mixed area approach is used for Peru and Canada [...]."

In comparison, German forests store 5.4 tons of CO2 per hectare (see Federal Forest Inventory and carbon inventory). This means that an average forest in Germany stores around 0.54 kg of CO2 per square meter.