This report analyses how deforestation in the Amazon Basin is linked with weak governance, insecurity and conflict, and inadequate infrastructure planning in the region. The findings of this report are based on desk reviews, field interviews in three countries (Brazil, Colombia, and Peru, which are the largest economies and together comprise more than 80 percent of the Amazon Basin), and Washington-based consultations.

The report reveals that these countries have structural challenges that enable the drivers of deforestation to thrive. Deforestation in the Amazon cannot be solely circumscribed as an environmental phenomenon; it is the inevitable outcome of a confluence of security, economic, and governance issues. Introducing infrastructure development into this existing complex landscape can increase the risk to the ecosystem and the people who inhabit it.