The Global 200 is the list of ecoregions identified by WWF, the global conservation organization, as priorities for conservation. According to WWF, an ecoregion is defined as a "relatively large unit of land or water containing a characteristic set of natural communities that share a large majority of their species dynamics, and environmental conditions". So, for example, based on their levels of endemism, Madagascar gets multiple listings, ancient Lake Baikal gets one, and the North American Great Lakes get none.
The Rio Negro, or Guainía as it is known in its upper part, is the largest left tributary of the Amazon River, the largest blackwater river in the world, and one of the world's ten largest rivers by average discharge.
The Jaú National Park is a national park located in the state of Amazonas, Brazil. It is one of the largest forest reserve in South America, and part of a World Heritage Site.
Amazonía region in southern Colombia comprises the departments of Amazonas, Caquetá, Guainía, Guaviare, Putumayo and Vaupés, and covers an area of 483,000 km², 35% of Colombia's total territory. The region is mostly covered by tropical rainforest, or jungle, which is a part of the massive Amazon rainforest.
The Southwest Amazon moist forests (NT0166) is an ecoregion located in the Upper Amazon basin.
The Amazon biome contains the Amazon rainforest, an area of tropical rainforest, and other ecoregions that cover most of the Amazon basin and some adjacent areas to the north and east. The biome contains blackwater and whitewater flooded forest, lowland and montane terra firme forest, bamboo and palm forest, savanna, sandy heath and alpine tundra. Some areas are threatened by deforestation for timber and to make way for pasture or soybean plantations.
Campinarana, also called Rio Negro Campinarana, is a neotropical ecoregion in the Amazon biome of the north west of Brazil and the east of Colombia that contains vegetation adapted to extremely poor soil. It includes savanna, scrub and forest, and contains many endemic species of fauna and flora.
The Caquetá moist forests (NT0107) is an ecoregion of tropical moist broad leaf forest to the east of the Andes in the east of Colombia, with a small section in Brazil, in the Amazon biome. The forests are in the transition between the Guiana and Amazon regions, and have highly diverse flora and fauna. They are relatively intact, although they are mostly unprotected and are threatened with deforestation to create cattle pastures.
The Guianan savanna (NT0707) is an ecoregion in the south of Venezuela, Guyana and Suriname and the north of Brazil. It is in the Amazon biome. The savanna covers an area of rolling upland plains on the Guiana Shield between the Amazon and Orinoco basins. It includes forested areas, but these are shrinking steadily due to the effect of frequent fires, either accidental or deliberate. The ecoregion includes the Gran Sabana region of Venezuela.
The Japurá-Solimões-Negro moist forests (NT0132) is an ecoregion of tropical moist broad leaf forest in the Amazon biome.
The Purus várzea (NT0156) is an ecoregion of seasonally flooded várzea forest in the central Amazon basin. It is part of the Amazon biome. The ecoregion is home to a vegetation adapted to floods of up to 12 metres (39 ft) that may last for eight months. There is a great variety of fish and birds, but relatively fewer mammals. Ground-dwelling mammals must migrate to higher ground during the flood season. Threats include logging, cattle farming, over-fishing and mercury pollution from gold mining.
The Solimões-Japurá moist forests (NT0163) is an ecoregion in northwest Brazil and eastern Peru and Colombia in the Amazon biome. It has a hot climate with high rainforest throughout the year, and holds one of the most diverse collections of fauna and flora in the world. The ecoregion is relatively intact.
The Juruá-Purus moist forests (NT0133) is an ecoregion in northwest Brazil in the Amazon biome. The terrain is very flat and soils are poor. The rivers flood annually. There are no roads in the region, and the dense rainforest is relatively intact, although plans to extend the Trans-Amazonian Highway through the region would presumably cause widespread damage to the habitat.
The Uatuma-Trombetas moist forests (NT0173) is an ecoregion in northwest Brazil in the Amazon biome. It covers the Amazon basin north of the Amazon River from close to the Atlantic Ocean to the Rio Negro west of Manaus. The ecoregion is relatively intact, although it has been damaged along the main rivers and around population centers.
The Guayanan Highlands moist forests (NT0124) is an ecoregion in the south of Venezuela and the north of Brazil and in Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana. It is in the Amazon biome. It encompasses an upland region with diverse fauna and flora, which contains dramatic tepuis, or sandstone table mountains. The region has been inaccessible in the past and is generally fairly intact, apart from the north and northeast where large scale agriculture, ranching and mining operations are steadily encroaching on the ecosystem. New roads are opening the interior to logging, and planned dams will have a drastic impact on the riparian zones.
The Alto Orinoco-Casiquiare Biosphere Reserve is a UNESCO biosphere reserve in the Venezuelan Amazon biome.
