Abstract

The Amazon Basin spans over seven million square kilometres throughout nine countries, contains the largest river system on the planet with one-fifth of its freshwater and nearly one third of the Earth's biodiversity. Its Brazilian part covers some 5.2 million square kilometres, represents 61% of the country's land area, and is where some 20 million Brazilians live. The pristine region known as Southwestern Amazonia represents a microcosm for the resources and challenges of the whole Amazon region. It is one of the largest contiguous blocks of tropical rain forest in the world and is the Amazonian “hot-spot” for biodiversity, with its influence area reaching from Andean ecosystems to marshes and savannas, mainly over the higher parts of the Amazon watershed.