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The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the great acute challenges facing humanity and we are only beginning to comprehend its consequences. This article aims to better understand the impacts of the pandemic on the interplay of land use change, ecosystem services, human agency, conflict and cooperation, with a focus on civil society organizations (CSO) and criminal networks. To achieve this aim, we first review the general literature and then focus on the south-western Amazon and, in particular, the border region of Peru, Brazil and Bolivia. We use a mixed-method approach based on literature review and stakeholder conversations. Our findings suggest that the pandemic is having mixed effects: on the one hand, governments use their power to impose restrictions on fundamental rights, limit the freedom of the population and undermine its agency. On the other hand, alternative structures to the central state …