This thesis examines the impact of international law on the protection of the Amazon, focusing particularly on the 1978 Amazon Cooperation Treaty (ACT). This study aims to assess whether the ACT meets its objectives and, if this is not the case, to 1) identify legal inadequacies that prevent realization of the objectives laid down in the ACT and 2) assess whether international environmental law provides mechanisms to address those gaps. In particular, this research enquires what forms of cooperation are required among the Amazon countries to adequately protect the Amazonian environment, on the one hand, and what role the international community may play in this regard, on the other. Lastly, this thesis evaluates whether the Amazon, should be granted a special legal status due to its importance to the global environment and, if so, what the legal and practical implications of a specific status migh be