The previous chapters examined the Amazon from a regional perspective, focusing in particular on how the Amazon States have interacted among themselves to protect that region. This analysis was based on bilateral and regional treaties adopted among them and on decisions taken in the framework of regional and subregional organizations. This overview of legal instruments adopted by the Amazon States gives an indication of how they have been cooperating inter se in matters related to the conservation and sustainable use of the Amazon.

This chapter and the subsequent ones focus on the interaction between the Amazon States and the international community as a whole. This analysis intends to assess how those States interact with the international community, represented by States, international organizations, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and what role these actors may have in the protection of the Amazon. In view of the weaknesses observed within the regional legal framework of the Amazon, and the 1978 Amazon Cooperation Treaty (ACT) in particular, this and the subsequent chapters enquire whether the international community plays a role in ensuring the adoption or enforcement of legal obligations aimed at the environmental protection of the Amazon.

In particular, the present chapter looks at actual policies and activities carried out by some global actors, including States, international organizations, and NGOs, vis-à-vis the Amazon region, and to what extent the international community may help in its protection.