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The environmental NGOs in the Amazon region have, for the past 15 years, been organizing themselves into networks, in order to carry more weight when public policies are being defined. Essentially, it is a question of creating channels for expressing positions collectively that are difficult to take on individually. However, although this network building is the way towards a harnessing of the political dimension of the NGOs, many networks are as much the fruit of spontaneous rallying together as responses to calls for tender issued by international sponsors. What is needed is an appreciation of the range of ways these networks exert their influence on regional governance. The first part of the article deals with the dynamics of governance in the Amazon Basin. Study of the background to actions carried out and the organizations and institutions involved in treating questions with social and environmental implications sheds new light on recent changes in the determination of regional public policies. The second part shows the difficulties encountered in positioning NGO networks, and focuses especially on their internal organization and on their contribution to the market for development.