Review Conserving the Amazon River Basin: The case study of the Yahuarcaca Lakes System in Colombia Eliana Henao a, ⁎, Jaime R. Cantera a,b , Piotr Rzymski c a Department of Biology, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia b Ecology of Estuaries and Mangrove Research Group (ECOMANGLARES), Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia c Department of Environmental Medicine, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznań, Poland HIGHLIGHTS • The Yahuarcaca Lakes are a key area conserving freshwater biodiversity in Colombia. • The ecosystem serves a role as a source of water and food for indigenous people. • The main threats are wastewater discharge, overfishing, illegal mining, and logging. • International attention is required to ensure the conservation of Yahuarcaca. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT abstract article info Article history: Received 14 February 2020 Received in revised form 23 March 2020 Accepted 23 March 2020 Available online 26 March 2020 Editor: Fernando A.L. Pacheco Colombia is the fourth contributor to the Amazon River Basin (ARB) by surface, and the third by mean annual runoff. The Yahuarcaca Lakes System (YLS), consisting of four large interconnected water bodies situated on the floodplain of Amazon River, was identified as one of the key areas for the conservation of freshwater biodiversity in the Colombian ARB. This review aimed to provide a general overview of YLS, present its environmental and biological features, identify main ecological and health threats, and propose mitigation strategies and future research prospects. A systematic search was performed using various databases. In summary, YLS harbors significant biodiversity and provides a number of ecological services for local communities, encompassing fish and drinking water supply and utilization of the floodplain for agriculture. Ensuring its sustainability requires attention from local and international authorities, collaboration with indigenous communities and future interdisciplinary research. © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Amazon River Basin Yahuarcaca Lakes System Biodiversity Colombia Science of the Total Environment 724 (2020) 138186 ⁎ Corresponding author at: Department of Biology, Universidad del Valle, Calle 13 #100-00, Cali, Colombia. E-mail address: eliana.henao@correounivalle.edu.co (E. Henao). STOTEN-138186; No of Pages 13 Contents 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 2. The general characteristics of the Yahuarcaca Lakes System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 3. Environmental context and biology of YLS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138186 0048-9697/© 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Science of the Total Environment journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/scitotenv Please cite this article as: E. Henao, J.R. Cantera and P. Rzymski, Conserving the Amazon River Basin: The case study of the Yahuarcaca Lakes System in Colombia, Science of the Total Environment, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138186