Internews’ EJN, is offering organizational grants of $5,000 to $10,000 to media outlets, NGOs, academic institutions, and other interested groups to support media and journalism activities related to environmental crimes in the Amazon Region in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

Please read the following sections carefully, as they contain important information on eligibility and the application process.  

Overview 

Journalists, environmental rights defenders, CSOs and media outlets working in the Amazon Basin, pressured by a lack of resources and training, are increasingly subject to violence and threats to their safety when they expose activities such as wildlife trafficking, illegal mining, and logging, as well as their impacts on biodiversity and Indigenous peoples in the region.

To improve the capacity of local media to safely produce accurate and in-depth coverage of environmental crimes, Internews' Earth Journalism Network (EJN) and the Internews Americas team in alliance with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) announce a third round of media grants for organizations based in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. 

Media grantees from the first two cohorts have worked to increase coverage of environmental crimes and their impacts, reporting on issues such as how illegal mining affects the health of riverside communities in the Amazon, the encroachment on indigenous lands in the Colombian Amazon, the migration stories of indigenous people in Peru in response to the growing threat of environmental crimes, and a series of reports narrating the transnational trafficking of Amazonian turtles at the borders of Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador.

For this round, organizations will be awarded grants on the strength of their proposals to produce investigative and/or collaborative stories on environmental crimes. Selected media grantees will receive guidance, feedback and editorial support from Internews' Americas team and EJN.

This opportunity is offered as part of the Together for Conservation project, which aims to strengthen the capacities of civil society actors and their regional networks to conserve biodiversity and prevent environmental crimes in the Amazon. The project is led by the WCS in alliance with USAID and aims to strengthen independent media, journalists, communicators, and Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IP&LC) organizations to increase the quality and quantity of information on environmental crimes that endanger the Amazon ecosystem.

Project themes and objectives 

Interested applicants should propose activities for the training of Amazonian journalists and communicators and for supporting the production of journalistic reports on environmental crimes. The proposals must focus on the priority geographies of the Together for Conservation project and its objectives. More information about the project can be accessed here.

Examples of possible activities include, but are not limited to: 

• Grants for reporting for journalists and communicators
• Mentoring of journalists and communicators for the production of stories about environmental crimes
• Investigative and/or collaborative reporting projects with a transboundary, regional focus
• Networking and partnership activities for journalists and communicators
• Field trips and/or training workshops that bring together journalists, communicators, and specialists on environmental crimes in the Amazon and result in the production of reports.

We are particularly interested in proposals that highlight the threats to biodiversity, and to Indigenous peoples and local communities as a result of activities such as illegal logging, unsustainable fishing, wildlife trafficking and illegal mining.

We expect selected projects to improve the quality and quantity of factual, relevant and reliable information on environmental crimes in the Amazon region and to boost public access to that information especially among national and regional policymakers and corporate actors.

Proposed activities to highlight the efforts and solutions implemented by policymakers, civil society organizations, indigenous peoples and local communities, and the private sector to halt and mitigate the threats posed by environmental crimes in the Amazon are also welcome.

Eligibility 

Media organizations, networks of journalists and/or communicators, universities, and journalistic institutions focusing on environmental crimes reporting in the Amazon region are invited to apply. 

Civil society organizations, community groups and research institutes will also be considered, provided they operate with strong media and communication components. Please note: we will not consider applications focused on advocacy, activism or political campaigning.

We welcome applications from organizations in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, with a preference for those with established networks in the Amazon region and those willing to carry out transboundary work involving the four target countries that are the focus of the project. We generally prefer to support organizations that carry out work in the country where they are based, but we will consider applications from organizations seeking to collaborate with groups in the Amazon region of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Brazil. 

Organizations must be legally registered in their country and maintain a bank account with the capacity to receive international funds.

For this grant opportunity, we will only accept applications in English, Spanish and Portuguese (translations of this call for proposals are available at the top and bottom of the page). Unfortunately, we cannot consider applications in other languages at this time. Applicants must either have a working understanding of English, Spanish or Portuguese or have a translator available to assist in communication with Internews staff. However, please note that project outputs, such as stories or journalism tools and resources, can be produced in any language.

Organizations that have received support from Internews or EJN in the past are eligible and we will consider past performance during the selection process.  

Applicants are required to be transparent about the use of generative AI tools, if any, to revise their proposals. EJN reserves the right to disqualify applicants from consideration if they have been found to have engaged in unethical or improper professional conduct, including, but not limited to, submitting AI-generated content as their own.

APPLY: https://earthjournalism.net/opportunities/media-grants-to-strengthen-coverage-of-environmental-crimes-and-sustainable-solutions

Grant amount and logistics 

We anticipate supporting 5-8 organizations with funding of $5,000 to $10,000 each. In general, proposals with smaller budgets will be more competitive. Larger grant amounts will be considered for projects that use innovative approaches and may be more resource- and time-intensive.

All applicants must provide a detailed budget with justification for the requested amount as part of their application using the template linked below. 

We ask that the budgets be reasonable and account for the costs necessary for project implementation. Applicants may use a portion of the grant to purchase equipment. However, they should clearly state how the equipment will contribute to the expected outcomes, and it should make up a relatively small portion of the overall budget.  

Applicants are permitted and encouraged to raise co-financing for the proposed activities, but it is not required. If you have received any co-financing, please indicate the amount and the source in your application. 

We expect to notify successful applicants in April 2025, with work starting in May 2025. The projects must be completed within five months, by the end of September 2025. Candidates should consider this timeline when developing their work plan.

For projects that involve publishing stories or other material, please note that Internews, EJN, its partners, and the grant funder will be given rights to edit, publish, broadcast, and distribute those materials freely. 

Acknowledgment of support: Published stories and/or broadcasts must disclose EJN support by including this tagline: “This story was produced with support from Internews’ Earth Journalism Network.” Other outputs resulting from this grant (such as training or courses) must disclose support from the Earth Journalism Network, USAID, and WCS by following a standard plan that will be shared when applicants are selected.

Judging criteria 

All applications we receive are reviewed and discussed by a panel of international judges, comprising Internews staff and experts in environmental journalism. 

Applications will be evaluated using the following assessment criteria: 

• The overall quality of the proposal; 
• The relevance of the proposed project to the objectives and priorities of this grant program and the Together for Conservation project goals; 
• The potential impact of the proposed project, including the quality and effectiveness of the project design; 
• The innovative characteristics of the proposed activities; 
• The financial viability and cost-effectiveness of the proposed project; 
• The ability of the applicant to carry it out; 
• The geographical spread of the grantees. 

Application process 

• Click the “Apply now” button at the top of the page. 
• If you have an existing account, you'll need to log in. Since we recently updated our website, you might have to reset your password by clicking the “Forgot password?” link in the log in page. If you don’t have an account, you must register by clicking “Log in” on the top right of the page and click the “Sign up” link at the bottom of the page that opens. Click here for detailed instructions on how to create an account, and here for detailed instructions on how to reset your password.
• If you start the application and want to come back and complete it later, you can click 'Save Draft.' To return to the draft, you'll need to go back to the opportunity and click 'Apply now' again to finalize the application. 
• Applications should provide a detailed budget in an Excel spreadsheet with justification for the amount requested. Download the budget template now by clicking on this link.

If you encounter difficulties submitting your application or have questions about the grants, please email info.ejn@internews.org. Do not contact any other Internews email regarding this opportunity, as we will not receive it. 

Applications submitted after the deadline will not be considered. Please consider submitting it at least one day before the deadline to avoid any issues. 

This grant opportunity is made possible by the generous support of the people of the United States through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This call and the outputs produced by story grantees do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government or Wildlife Conservation Society.