Free Journalism Seminar

Free journalism seminar The Amazon tipping point: How to report environmental crimes?
15 September: 10:00–11:40 a.m. and 6:00–7:15 p.m. (UTC-4)
16 September: 6:00–7:15 p.m. (UTC-4)

This journalism seminar is hosted by:

Join journalists and editors from across the Amazon Biome and the globe who report the region’s most critical stories. Gain access to leaders, experts, and hard-to-reach voices from local communities and attend and cover the GLF Amazonia Digital Conference.

On 21–23 September 2021, the Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) will host a digital conference focused entirely on the Amazon rainforest as a climate tipping point – and how knowledge, science and action can help us avoid a global environmental disaster.

Ahead of the event, join journalists from across the Amazon Biome and around the world to connect with top regional and global scientists and experts, including leaders of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities and Afrodescendant Peoples, for interviews and insight on the region’s most pressing stories.

Share your pitch with us for news articles, features, and in-depth reporting related to the Amazon, and develop the story with the  Mongabay Latam bureau (see more information below)!

This seminar is available in English, Portuguese and Spanish. 

SPEAKERS

Alexa Vélez

Mongabay Latam

Andrés Bermúdez

Centro Latinoamericano de Investigación Periodística (CLIP)

Dora Montero

Consejo de Redacción

Oscar Campanini

Centro de Documentación e Información Bolivia (CEDIB)

Julia Urrunaga

Agencia de Investigación Ambiental (EIA)

María Isabel Torres

Mongabay Latam

Patricia Gualinga

lideresa indígena kichwa de la comunidad de Sarayaku, Ecuador

Rodrigo Botero

Fundación para la Conservación y el Desarrollo Sostenible (FCDS)

Ruth Noguerón

World Resources Institute (WRI)

Stefano Wrobleski

InfoAmazonia Brasil

AGENDA

DAY 1 (15 September)

10:00–11:40 a.m. (UTC-4)

Journalism workshop – Satellite mapping: leveraging technology to tell impactful stories

[Workshop Part 1] Global Forest Watch and how to monitor real-time deforestation

Length: 40 minutes
Speaker: Ruth Nogueron, Researcher, World Resources Institute (WRI)
Interaction: 10-minute round of questions at the end of the presentation

Global Forest Watch is an open-source web application to monitor global forests in near real-time. In this session, you’ll learn how it works and how to use data correctly. We’ll cover what a deforestation alert is; how to search for recent alerts; and how to study deforested areas, from analyzing long-term data to using the data correctly in a publication.

[Workshop Part 2] Crime maps: emblematic deforestation cases

Length: 15 minutes
Speakers: Alexa Vélez, General Editor, Mongabay Latam
Interaction: 10-minute round of questions at the end of the presentation

Mongabay Latam will present two investigative reports. The first report, Crime Mapping, addresses recent deforestation in Ecuador, Colombia, Bolivia and Peru. The problems detected in these areas include the invasion of territories, the introduction of illicit crops, illegal logging, and threats against Indigenous leaders and to protected areas. The second report, Mennonites in Peru, tells the story of deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon. 

We will also explore how to develop a story using a deforestation alert, the challenges that arise when covering deforestation in the Amazon, and the sources available to you.

6:00–7:15 p.m.
(UTC-4)

[Panel] How did the pandemic aggravate the crisis in the Amazon? From land grabbing to violence against environmental defenders

Length: 60 minutes
Moderator: María Isabel Torres, Mongabay Latam Director
Interaction: 15-minute round of questions at the end of the presentation

Panelists:

  • Rodrigo Botero, Director of Fundación para la Conservación y el Desarrollo Sostenible (FCDS)
  • Oscar Campanini, director del Centro de Documentación e Información Bolivia (CEDIB)
  • Patricia Gualinga, Indigenous leader of the Kichwa people of Sarayaku in the Ecuadorian Amazon in Ecuador
  • Julia Urrunaga, Peruvian Director of Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA)

DAY 2 (16 September)

6:00–7:15 p.m.
(UTC-4)

[Panel] Transnational crimes: collaborative journalism to investigate the Amazon

Panel length: 60 minutes 
Moderator: Alexa Vélez, General Director, Mongabay Latam

Panelists:

ACCESS TO EXPERTS

IMPACT REPORTING

SEE BELOW FOR THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Interested in attending this seminar? Fill out the .

The best pitches will receive US$1000 from Mongabay, Mongabay editorial assistance, and the winning story will be published on Mongabay and Landscape News.