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Indigenous and ethnic minority perspectives are largely under-represented across the traditional media landscape, even as Indigenous communities and ethnic minorities face climate injustice, oppression and displacement.
World over, the lands they steward are targeted for resource exploitation, from logging for timber to the mining of precious metals and gems. The rights of Indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities are violated in the name of conservation too—as when forest dwellers are evicted from their ancestral territories for the creation of national parks.
To help shed light on these discriminatory practices and conflicts and highlight examples of these communities’ resilience, EJN, through its Asia-Pacific project, has awarded 16 story grants to journalists who identify as Indigenous or belonging to an ethnic minority from the region:
- Ambrosius Adir, Indonesia (Floresa and Project Multatuli)
- Budi Nurgianto and Nurkholis Lamaau, Indonesia, Barta1
- Georgina Kekea, Solomon Islands (Tavuli News)
- I Gusti Gede Maha Suasana Adi, Indonesia (Green Press Indonesia)
- Irenius J. A. Sagur, Indonesia (Ekora NTT)
- Junaidi Hanafiah, Indonesia (Mongabay Indonesia)
- Karlston Lapniten, Philippines (Baguio Chronicle, Zig Zag Weekly and The Northern Philippine Times)
- Khang A Tủa and Alex Nguyen, Vietnam (Phụ Nữ Mới)
- Kristiana Uluwai, Fiji (Fijian Broadcasting Corporation)
- Liani Manta Khaira, Malaysia (Macaranga)
- Manesh Kumar, Pakistan (The News on Sunday)
- Nitu Ghale, Nepal (Annapurna Post)
- Ramaiah Maheswary, Sri Lanka (Thamilan)
- Rus Akbar Saleleubaja, Indonesia (Mentawai Kita)
- Teguh Suprayitno and Idra Salemand, Indonesia (Mongabay Indonesia)
- Wahid Bhat, India (Ground Report)
With support from experienced mentors, these journalists will produce in-depth reports on how displacement caused by sea level rise and floods is impacting Indigenous peoples in Fiji; how an edible moss, prized by Indigenous communities in Nepal for its medicinal qualities, is threatened by overharvesting and climate change; how efforts to save heirloom rice seeds are helping to ensure food security in Sarawak, Malaysia; how Indigenous knowledge has informed Komodo dragon conservation efforts in Riung, Indonesia, and much more.
"We only tend to hear the voices of Indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities in the media when they are protesting against land conflicts and exploitative development. But there are so many more stories to be told and so much more we should know about, such as their local knowledge on living with nature, how their way of life and cultures are threatened by climate change and environmental degradation, and what they’re doing to safeguard their lands and identities. These stories will help fill this gap,” says Amy Sim, Internews Asia Regional Program Manager (Environment).
Look out for the journalists’ stories on the EJN website in the coming months.
Banner image: As Pakistan’s lignite coal boom accelerates, communities native to the Tharpakar desert stand to lose their homes and livelihoods / Credit: Zaferauf via Wikimedia Commons.
