The Amazon region covers about 40 percent of South America and influences the many countries and cultures that it covers, from Bolivia to Brazil, Columbia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. The region holds among the world’s great riches in both plant and animal biodiversity and provides the planet with vital resources for sustained planetary health. This collection of research articles, and the overview provided by pre-eminent scholar and Amazonian expert Dr. Thomas Lovejoy, bring together powerful documentation of the threats to the region’s resources and the potential consequences of their loss.