Amazon Basin: GIWA Regional Assessment. 40b

This publication is one of a series of strategic impact assessments carried out as part of the Global International Waters Assessment Project (GIWA-UNEP/GEF) to evaluate the world's transboundary waters, in recognition of the links between freshwater and coastal marine environments and the effects of human activities. This report focuses on the Amazon Basin, the world's largest basin and one of the least understood. Its drainage area covers more than one third of the South American continent and it has 15 tributaries. The Amazon Basin contains a complex system of vegetation, including the most extensive and preserved rainforest in the world.