Biodiversity Media Initiative

The biodiversity crisis doesn’t get the headlines it deserves. Habitat loss, poaching and now climate change threaten wild species across the planet. Scientists warn that the decline in biodiversity will have knock-on effects for humanity, and particularly for people who live closest to nature and who depend most directly on its goods and services.

The challenge of balancing human needs with environmental integrity is huge. The media has a big part to play in raising awareness of these issues and enabling citizens, policymakers and private companies to debate and implement solutions. However, current media coverage of biodiversity and conservation is limited.

Internews’ Earth Journalism Network has been addressing this crisis through the Biodiversity Media Initiative.

The Biodiversity Media Initiative was originally supported from 2016-2018 in partnership with Arcadia — a charitable fund of Peter Baldwin and Lisbet Rausing. During that time it supported more than 150 journalists in the following 33 countries: Argentina; Bolivia; Brazil; Canada; China; Colombia; Cuba; Ecuador; Georgia; Ghana; Guinea-Bissau; Guyana; India; Indonesia; Kenya; Malaysia; Mexico; Myanmar; Nepal; New Zealand; Nigeria; Pakistan; Papua New Guinea; Peru; Russia; Solomon Islands; South Africa; Spain; Philippines; Uganda; United Kingdom; United States and Vietnam.

The project was relaunched from 2020-2023 with renewed funding from Arcadia. As in the first phase of this project, we provided media grants to organizations and journalists' networks, story grants and travel scholarships to journalists to report on pressing biodiversity issues and attend major international biodiversity conferences, and fellowships to the Kunming-Montreal United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity conference in 2022. We hosted a series of webinars and produced an online course on biodiversity.

In 2024, the Biodiversity Media Initiative continues for a further three years with generous support from Fondation Hans Wildorf. In this phase, EJN will continue to build awareness of the threats to biodiversity and of solutions to biodiversity challenges by increasing the quantity and quality of news and information on these topics, with a focus on audiences in low- and middle-income countries, and build the capacity of journalists and communicators to report on threats and solutions to biodiversity and conservation challenges. 

Project activities will include the awarding of organizational grants, story grants and mentorship, commissions and media partnerships, fellowships to upcoming UNCBD COPs, online workshops and webinars on key biodiversity topics, and updated reporter resources for journalists.

The Biodiversity Media Initiative is a pooled fund that has flexibility to support activities around the world; donors interested in contributing to the Initiative are welcome. 

Affiliated with the BMI, EJN has a number of complementary biodiversity media projects that are country- or region-specific, including Conservando Juntos in the Amazon region, and the East Africa Wildlife Journalism project.