09bet.comAmazon is a strategic biome for global climate regulation, home to unique biodiversity and diverse traditional cultures. Beyond its environmental and cultural richness, the region is also marked by conflict and vulnerability. The report Amazônia em Disputa, launched in Bogotá, Colombia, during the 5th Summit of Presidents of the States Parties to the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) this month, maps border areas, key actors, and the dynamics that put the region at risk.

The study is a collaboration between the Igarapé Institute, the European Union, and the Foundation for Conservation and Sustainable Development (FCDS). It focuses on the northwestern Amazon, where the geographic and political boundaries of Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Peru converge.

Among the dynamics mapped in the study are four types of disputes: environmental, criminal, capital, and institutional. Environmental disputes relate to damage to the forest, such as degradation, deforestation, fires, and predatory exploitation of natural resources. Criminal disputes involve armed groups and illicit networks that operate across legal and illegal, formal and informal sectors. These include drug trafficking, illegal mining, and local tax collection.

Capital disputes involve the process by which the forest is converted into a commodity through both legal and illegal extraction chains. These include drugs, gold, timber, and cattle, among others, which fuel deforestation and enable mechanisms for money laundering. Finally, institutional disputes relate to the region’s fragile and fragmented governance. While criminal networks expand, the presence of the state remains disjointed and ineffective.

“When we look at the illicit economies that have put pressure on the Amazon, we’re also talking about global markets. The responsibility lies not only with Amazonian countries, but with everyone who consumes these types of Amazonian assets. We need joint responses to address the concrete damage we’ve seen on the ground. The damage remains in the Amazon, but the networks driving these economies ultimately extend far beyond its borders,” says Melina Risso, research director at the Igarapé Institute.

Main challenges

The study aims to provide an initial diagnosis of the border regions in the northwestern Amazon. One of its preliminary findings indicates the presence of at least 16 major illegal armed groups operating in 69 percent of Amazonian municipalities. These include the Red Command (CV), the First Capital Command (PCC), the National Liberation Army (ELN), and dissident factions of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

In nearly all Amazonian countries, homicide rates in the region exceed national averages. Violence is most acute along the borders of Putumayo (Colombia), Madre de Dios (Peru), and Sucumbíos (Ecuador), where drug trafficking, illegal mining, and state absence converge.

Criminal groups operate through transnational financial flows. Illicit economic networks involve gold, timber, and drug trade chains that are interconnected with formal markets.

Indigenous populations and riverside communities are the hardest hit by violence and illegal activities. The main problems they face include forced displacement, loss of territory, and the destruction of traditional livelihoods.

The region is also known as the most dangerous in the world for environmental defenders: more than half of global murders in 2023 occurred in the Amazon. One contributing factor is the weak and misguided actions of the state. Researchers say that state agencies act reactively and militarily, without strengthening civil and community governance. This lack of effective action reinforces violence and informality.

Border disputes

Researchers have identified five border areas in the Amazon with unique dispute dynamics. Two of these include territories within Brazil:

Guainía–Orinoco (Colombia–Venezuela): The region experiences intense flows of legal and illegal goods, mining activities, and criminal networks. Indigenous communities face pressure from armed groups and environmental degradation.

Mitú–Taraira (Colombia–Brazil): This region has little state presence and is crisscrossed by drug trafficking routes and illegal mining activities. Its greater isolation favors the actions of armed groups and puts pressure on traditional communities.

Amazon Trapezoid (Colombia–Brazil–Peru): Considered one of the epicenters of the region’s illicit economy, this area’s geographic location facilitates the concentration of strategic drug and arms trafficking routes. River traffic is intense, and armed groups maintain international connections.

Putumayo (Colombia–Ecuador–Peru): A hotspot for drug trafficking and lethal violence. Overlapping armed groups, illicit routes, pressure on the forest, and forced displacement characterize the region.

Yavarí (Brazil–Peru): A difficult-to-access region, where illegal mining, logging, and trafficking are expanding. The absence of the State is compounded by disputes over indigenous territories, in a scenario of severe environmental degradation.

According to the research director at the Igarapé Institute, the time is ripe to establish new governance structures for the Amazon that include inter-institutional coordination both within and between countries. Researchers highlighted the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) as an important entity for defining these new structures.

“ACTO is a great opportunity for cooperation, starting with the establishment of the Public Security Commission. However, solutions will also require new economic alternatives and a crucial discussion on payment for ecosystem services to finance the natural economy, which should continue until COP30,” says Melina Risso.

“What we intend with this study is to draw attention to the urgency of coordinated action. We no longer have time to wait for all diplomatic relations to be established before moving forward,” she adds.