The focus of this study was the tourism and recreation activities carried out on a stretch of the Rio Negro near the city of Manaus. The main objective was to assess the extent to which these activities are directly or indirectly responsible for impacts on the environment and to describe the environmental quality of this stretch of the Rio Negro. A bibliographical review was carried out relating the themes of tourism and the environment, and their interactions and impacts. Work on the climate, geology, geomorphology and vegetation of the study area was also reviewed. This body of information helped to define field actions that would enable a retrospective assessment of environmental impacts and forms of land use, whether or not they were directly linked to tourism or recreation. The legacy of this study is the need to organize land use in order to avoid or mitigate environmental damage.