ignores river catchment areas, which comprise “the vast
majority of physical, chemical and biological processes
affecting river systems” (Wishart & Davies 2003). Most
protected areas in the Amazon were established based
on the biogeography of terrestrial taxa (Peres & Terborgh
1995), and very few protect freshwater ecosystems specifically
(e.g., Pacaya-Samiria and Mamirau´a reserves). The
inability of protected areas to adequately protect freshwater
ecosystems is illustrated by the Xingu National
Indigenous Park, where local indigenous livelihoods are
threatened by declines in water quality and fish populations
caused by deforestation in headwater areas outside
park boundaries (Rosenthal 2009). Another example is
theMadeira River basin, which is threatened by oil exploration,
deforestation, and dams in the headwaters, even
though protected areas cover 26% of its catchment area
(Table 1).
Water resources legislation exists in most Amazonian
countries. For example, Brazil established the following
essential management principles: (1) water is a finite resource
that has multiple uses; (2) water is vulnerable to
human activities; (3) management must be made at the
catchment scale; and (4) management must be decentralized
and participatory (Setti 2004). In many cases, however,
national water resources laws cannot adequately
protect Amazon freshwater ecosystems, because they follow
national borders that do not always encompass whole
catchments. In addition, water resources legislation is
largely unimplemented, leaving huge areas unmanaged.
For example, until 1999 the environmental management
agency in the municipality of Tef ´e in Brazil had only eight
employees and did not even possess a boat to do its job in
an area that has no roads and is roughly the size of Italy
(Crampton et al. 2004). Finally, water resources laws focus
on water itself, not on freshwater ecosystems, probably
because they reflect historical concerns about ensuring
quantity and quality of water to meet multiple
demands in populated regions. Other legislation may
complement national water resources legislation. For example,
in Brazil, the Forest Code protects riparian vegetation
(Law 4.771 of 1965) and the Fishery Code regulates
aquatic fauna extraction activities (Decree-Law 221
of 1967). But no law or set of laws fully considers the
structure and function of Amazon freshwater ecosystems,
and that is the case even for the floodplains of the
Amazon mainstem, which is by far the best studied Amazon
freshwater ecosystem (Vieira 2000; Junk & Piedade
2004).
Community-based natural resource management
(CBM) systems, developed by riverine communities to
ensure food security via the implementation of harvest
restrictions (e.g., fishing gear, place, and season), provide
another source of protection to Amazon floodplains