The WWF is run at a local level by the following offices...

© Tatiana Cardeal / WWF-Brasil
OUR WORK IN The AMAZon

The Amazon is more than a forest — it is a living territory of diversity and connections that shape the planet’s climate and future. The Pan-Amazon region stretches across nine countries and is home to 47.6 million people, including Indigenous Peoples, Quilombola communities, riverine populations, and other traditional peoples who have maintained a balanced relationship with nature for millennia. In Brazil, the Legal Amazon covers 60% of the national territory and is home to over 26 million inhabitants.

It is the most biodiverse biome on the planet, with around 40,000 plant species, 400 mammal species, and more than 3,000 species of fish. It also plays a key role in regulating rainfall that sustains rivers, crops, and cities across the continent. In 2024, the region faced its worst drought in decades, along with 140,000 fire outbreaks — a sharp increase compared to the previous year. Despite these challenges, the forest remains a symbol of resilience, harboring solutions that inspire a sustainable and just future.

TAPAJÓS | Territory of Life, Resistance, and Future

The Tapajós is more than a river — it is a living mosaic of forests, territories, and cultures stretching across four states and 74 municipalities. Its waters are formed by the confluence of the Juruena and Teles Pires rivers and flow into the Amazon. Nearly 40% of its basin is officially protected through Indigenous Lands and Conservation Units, with a strong presence of the Munduruku people and other traditional communities.

At the same time, the Tapajós region is one of the epicenters of pressure in the Amazon: the expansion of soy and cattle production, ports and waterways, and the spread of illegal mining — which has already contaminated fish and local populations with mercury.

WWF-Brazil works in the Tapajós to strengthen community governance, defend territories, combat illegal mining, and promote sustainable value chains.
What we do

We work to keep the Amazon alive and thriving — with standing forests, free-flowing rivers, and empowered peoples. Together with communities, local organizations, and partners, we protect territories, value traditional ways of life, and promote forest-based economies.

We defend rights, strengthen social participation, care for biodiversity, and respond to the crises already affecting those who live in the region — supporting communities to adapt to the impacts of the climate crisis. Our commitment is to foster solutions that ensure a future where nature and people coexist in balance, with justice, autonomy, and diversity.

Indigenous, Quilombola, and Conservation Areas are the main barriers against deforestation and predatory activities. We work to create, consolidate, and strengthen the management of these areas by supporting governance structures, management plans, community-based tourism, and financial mechanisms that ensure their long-term sustainability.

We strengthen partnerships with public agencies and communities to implement conservation models that keep the forest alive, connect ecosystems, value forest products, and enhance climate resilience in strategic landscapes across the region.

Mining is currently one of the main causes of destruction in the Amazon. It devastates forests, contaminates rivers with mercury, and threatens the health and food security of Indigenous, riverine, and traditional peoples who depend on fish and clean water to live. Beyond environmental damage, it is linked to growing violence, labor exploitation, and criminal networks encroaching on historically protected territories.

We work to reduce mining impacts through scientific research, territorial monitoring, strengthening public policies, and community leadership engagement. We also advocate for greater control and traceability in the gold supply chain, promoting actions that protect life, territories, and the forest.

We strengthen the leadership of community organizations, territorial collectives, and local leaders by supporting capacity building, public campaigns, and participation in decision-making spaces. Active citizenship is key for peoples and communities to defend their territories, influence public policies, and propose their own models of development.

Our work helps amplify the voices of environmental defenders in a region that remains one of the most dangerous places in the world for those who protect the forest.

Coexistence between communities and Amazonian wildlife is rooted in ancestral knowledge — but sometimes conflict arises due to their proximity. We work to reduce conflicts, promote sustainable management, and strengthen applied science for biodiversity monitoring.

Projects we support have reduced accidental interactions between fishers and river dolphins through simple technologies and have increased sightings of jaguars and rare species in monitored landscapes. By protecting species, we connect ecosystems, sustain ecological processes, and reinforce the value of the standing forest as a source of life, food, and culture.

Extreme events such as severe droughts, floods, and large-scale fires have intensified due to climate change. We act within regional networks to ensure immediate support for affected populations — distributing food, water, and equipment, and training community fire brigades. At the same time, we plan climate adaptation and disaster prevention actions, turning emergency responses into long-term resilience strategies.

The Amazon faces intense pressure from large-scale projects such as ports, waterways, railways, and hydroelectric plants — often planned without considering the social, cultural, and ecological impacts on local territories. Added to this are new offshore oil exploration fronts along the Equatorial Margin, which threaten marine ecosystems and the livelihoods of riverine and coastal communities while deepening dependence on fossil fuels.

We advocate for participatory, socially and environmentally responsible infrastructure decisions that protect rivers, forests, and communities. At the same time, we promote a just energy transition, supporting community solar energy solutions that reduce costs, expand autonomy, and pave the way for a clean, inclusive, and secure future for the region.

Strengthening forest-based economies is essential to conserving the Amazon. We support the development of value chains such as rubber, Brazil nuts, honey, copaiba, andiroba, forest seeds, açaí, handicrafts, and community-based tourism.

This includes training, market access, local processing, and financial mechanisms that value the work and culture of communities. These are value chains that generate income without deforestation — promoting territorial health, economic autonomy, and the preservation of traditional knowledge.

We bring together science, social movements, forest peoples, and institutional partners to influence public policies related to climate, biodiversity, mining, land tenure, territorial rights, and socioenvironmental protection. We engage in Congress, the Judiciary, participatory councils, and international forums, defending legal frameworks that ensure standing forests and reinforce climate justice. Advocacy is the link between territorial action and structural transformation.

The future of the Amazon depends on securing the original and territorial rights of the peoples who inhabit it. We support the demarcation, protection, and management of Indigenous, Quilombola, and traditional territories, working alongside local organizations to confront threats, strengthen participatory monitoring, and enhance socioenvironmental security. We believe that protected territories and empowered peoples are the foundation for building a viable future for the biome.