A colored illustration of multiple species of fish in the water and foliage all around. — Amazon Forgotten Fishes Image by Confucio Hernández Makuritofe, an Indigenous researcher and artist from the Muina Nɨpode people of the Colombian Amazon. © Confucio Hernández Makuritofe

Stories

Amazon Forgotten Fishes Report

How the remarkable diversity of freshwater fishes is critical to people, rivers and forest

September 08, 2026

What does it mean to be forgotten?

Amazon fishes are not forgotten by the Indigenous Peoples and river communities who have lived alongside these rivers for generations and depend on them. As Indigenous leader Fany Kuiru reminds us, in Indigenous worldviews, “no being in nature is ever forgotten.”

Yet these fishes have too often been overlooked in the policies, investments, and conservation priorities that shape their future.

To address these issues, across 54 authors and 43 institutions, we collaborated to create the Amazon Forgotten Fishes report. Spanning different voices and expertises, the report unifies around one shared message:

Make the forgotten impossible to ignore.

Cover page of the Amazon Forgotten Fishes report.

Fish are the Heart of the Amazon

Download the full report or executive summary to learn more.

Download Executive Summary

Armored Catfish Their armored bodies and powerful suction mouths make them masters of fast flowing waters. © Ricardo Oliveira

Incredible Biodiversity

The Amazon is not only the largest river basin on Earth. It is also home to the greatest diversity of freshwater fishes on the planet.

More than 2,700 species live here, representing about 15 percent of all freshwater fish species known to science.

And roughly two thirds of these species are found nowhere else.

And despite centuries of exploration, scientists are still discovering new species, and even entirely new families.

Pirarucu Fishing A pirarucú caught with a traditional spear in the Brazilian Amazon. © Ricardo Oliveira

Embedded in Culture

But these fishes are far more than biodiversity numbers.

They feed millions of people. They carry cultures, identities, and knowledge. They sustain livelihoods. They move nutrients through food webs, and some disperse seeds across flooded forests, helping the forest regenerate.

When we talk about fish, we are talking about food, culture, economies, forests, and people.

When fish disappear, much more disappears with them.

Fishes in Peril

Despite their importance, Amazonian fishes face growing and compounding pressures from dams, deforestation, pollution, overfishing, invasive species, and climate change.

Biodiversity Decline

Around the world, freshwater biodiversity is declining faster than biodiversity in any other ecosystem.

We Must Act Now

In only a few decades, freshwater wildlife populations have declined by an average of 85 percent.

The health of the Amazon basin depends on cross-border cooperation.

An illustration featuring various types of fish swimming under water in a river, while two people in a canoe above the water operate a fish net. — **Illustration by Confucio Hernández Makuritofe** An Indigenous researcher and artist from the Muina Nɨpode people of the Colombian Amazon. His work integrates cultural research, illustration, and ancestral knowledge of Amazonian flora and fauna, increasing the visibility of Indigenous knowledge and promoting greater awareness of biodiversity.

A Plan for Recovery

There is also hope: we know what to do. The fate of Amazonian fish depends on our ability to understand the basin as an interconnected and constantly flowing system.

The Emergency Recovery Plan, developed by 25 authors from 14 organizations, highlights the global freshwater biodiversity crisis and outlines six priority actions to guide policy aimed at reversing biodiversity loss.

Let rivers flow more naturally
Protect and restore connectivity
End the unsustainable practices
Protect critical habitats and species
Prevent biological invasions
Improve water quality

Across all six actions, three principles are essential: think at the scale of the basin, place Indigenous Peoples and local communities at the center, and connect science and knowledge to policy and investment.