The Amazon Basin, an immense region nearly the size of the continental United States, is home to 60% of the planet’s remaining tropical rainforests and immense biodiversity. New research confirms the critical role that this unique biome plays in regulating the climate of South America and beyond.
Roughly 83% of the Amazon rainforest is still intact, and a principal factor in the Amazon’s survival has been its remoteness. But large-scale hydroelectric dams, industrial waterways (hidrovias), and associated mining, logging and agribusiness threaten to destroy this vital ecosystem.
A powerful alliance of state energy bureaucracies, politicians and large private dam-building corporations are spearheading the proposed transformation of the Amazon’s greatest tributaries into a series of slack-water reservoirs.
The Amazon is at a tipping point. Rampant deforestation, rising temperatures and large dams are dramatically altering the landscape, leading to increased fires and less precipitation, which is already having major impacts across the continent. Many indigenous people and others are risking their lives to defend the Amazon’s fragile web of aquatic and terrestrial life, and violent retribution against them is only increasing. Tens of thousands of indigenous and riverine people face displacement or worse. We must immediately halt the destruction to have any chance of saving this key part of the continent’s hydrological cycle.
Our Work in the Amazon
International Rivers works with threatened communities, indigenous peoples, social movements, NGOs, independent researchers and other partners to fight destructive dams and other problematic projects planned for the Amazon, while supporting alternative strategies to meet legitimate energy needs and promoting the permanent protection of the region’s rivers, communities and livelihoods.
Sonia Bone Guajajara, VP of COAIB addressing indigenous marchers. | Photo by Caroline Bennett. 
Apiaká mapping | Photo by International Rivers.
Related Resources
Project Potential Flooded Areas of Dams in the Marañón River basin (2014)
Latest Amazon Updates
- Universal recognition for the Rights of Nature grows at UN event in Brazil
Over the past few days, International Rivers had the incredible privilege of participating in a groundbreaking event that spotlighted the increasingly vital concept of the “Rights of Nature” in Brazil. … Read more - International Rivers and Tapajós de Fato launch podcast series “Tapajós Sob o Sol”
A three-episode series welcomes specialists to discuss relevant topics in the Tapajós region, including bioeconomy, archaeological importance, and what hydrographic basins and rivers have to do with climate change. Link … Read more - International Rivers e Tapajós de Fato lançam série de podcast “Tapajós Sob o Sol”Série de três episódios recebe especialistas para debater temas relevantes da região do Tapajós, como a bioeconomia, a importância arqueológica e como as bacias hidrográficas e os rios têm a … Read more
- “We need infrastructure for the Amazon and not just in the Amazon” asks NGOs in letter to presidential candidates during 2022 Infrastructure Working Group (GT Infraestrutura) annual meeting
Alter do Chão (Pará) – More than 60 participants reunited this week in Alter do Chão, Pará, for 2022 GT Infraestrutura Annual Meeting, a group formed by environmental NGOs, social … Read more