Ripples spreading on the water

In 2022, GRID-Arendal supported the publication of 5 investigations through its yearly Investigative Environmental Journalism Grants programme. One remaining story from the 2022 winners will be published later this year.

Although the stories on their own generate immediate impact, it doesn’t stop there! Some investigations initiate change in the communities, spark difficult but important conversations, and ultimately pave the way for deepening the knowledge and tools we have to prevent environmental crime. So dive in, and read about some of the impact that the 2022 grant winners’ stories have had so far.

Daniel Wizenberg’s story on the Mercury Route received an Honourable Mention for the Walter Reuter Award 2022, was shortlisted for the True Story Award 2023, and was nominated for the ‘Oscar R. Cardoso’ award for Argentine journalism in international relations.

It also contributed to research on the route being started by the Environmental Investigation Agency.

At the local level, discussions have been generated that led to other media outlets covering the issue, such as Infobae (Latin America) and La Vanguardia (Mexico).

“Thanks to the initial funding we have been given, we have been able to get new funds to continue the mercury route through the rest of the Amazon and originating in other regions,” said Wizenberg.

Joni Aswira Putra’s bilingual documentary on the relationship between humans and tigers received over 50K views, sparking a flurry of action and attention from both conservationists and politicians.

“I was able to gather information about the impact of the coverage from my colleagues and sources in West Sumatra Province, one of the coverage sites. After the documentary aired, almost all government conservation officials began to pay attention to the issue. Specifically, the handling of animal conflicts, especially tigers, began to increase,” said Joni Aswira Putra.

Before the broadcast, one of the last human-tiger conflicts occurred in Pasaman Regency in a palm oil plantation area. Based on the policy of the Natural Resources Conservation Center, all conflict reports from residents go to a special unit, with officers waiting for reports from residents by telephone before going out into the field. The handling process is still considered slow. 

But after the coverage aired, the conservation authorities changed their strategy. They accelerated the tracking of information on animal conflicts, including suspected trafficking. The conservation authority collaborated with the provincial government to establish the “PAGARI” program, organising patrols of local communities. This program is part of the West Sumatra provincial government’s commitment to creating tiger-friendly villages. 

Young people are also being invited to protect the environment and tiger habitat. Local youths, totaling about 10 people in each village, are being trained to handle animal conflicts, install camera traps, and analyse areas of importance. They are even trained to conduct investigations to gather information on suspected animal trafficking. 

Several tiger-friendly villages have been established by the Natural Resources Conservation Center (BKSDA) in two villages in Agam district, two villages in Pasaman district, and one village in Solok district. All conflict handling includes all animals, not just tigers, and includes the conservation of plants. 

“Not only that, I also received information from the Sumatran tiger research institute, the Sintas Foundation, which was one of the sources in the coverage, that they had sent the coverage to the international animal conservation network, IUCN,” remarked Aswira Putra.

The documentary was also shared with several officials at the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, specifically the Directorate of Conservation, who appreciated the conservation efforts.

The investigative story about the illegal trade of pangolin has received extensive media attention in Pakistan and in regional countries. As the story was first published in Express Tribune, WWF-Pakistan took keen interest in it. The story was later shared on various digital platforms, particularly Whatsapp groups in Pakistan such as the IUCN Species Survival Commission, IUCN Commission Members, Save Wildlife, Save Climate and Nature, WWF Employees, and Wildlife Practices Team.

As a result of this story, WWF Pakistan’s team placed collars on pangolins to monitor movements and migration patterns within their habitat. They also started a series of training workshop for capacity building of the team and community members to curb illegal trade of the animal. WWF Pakistan also made a point of observing World Pangolin Day.

To gather more details on the story, IUCN Pakistan and Sindh Wildlife Department contacted Shabina Faraz directly. Wildlife officials have now increased monitoring and keeping a close eye on the animal market in Karachi and other cities across Pakistan. The Third Pole also published a story which highlights threats to pangolin population in South Asia.

“I am excited to share that this story has been nominated for Agahi Awards 2022 which will be finalized later this year!” Faraz added.

The story was also mentioned in articles on the web, including The Third Pole.

This “China Dialogue Latin America” (Diálogo Chino) story was published just as COP27 was starting, so the public in Argentina was paying attention to environmental and climate issues before focusing on the football world cup. The article was widely shared on social media, particularly Twitter, even by large NGOs such as Greenpeace.

The Gran Chaco is the second largest forest in South America after the Amazon, and the last biodiversity hotspot in Argentina. Despite a National Forest Law of 2008 and a recent judicial decree by Chaco’s provincial court, illegal logging is still happening thanks to negligence in surveillance systems and reckless change in land use by soya farmers and ranchers. Now that Argentina is facing the worst drought of its recent history, with an estimated drop of 3% of its GDP and temperatures reaching 40° in Buenos Aires, the audience is gradually starting to link deforestation to climate change.

“Shortly after this second story in Diálogo Chino came out, protests in Chaco and Buenos Aires multiplied, leading me to write the third part in El País, where I interviewed – and confronted – the sayings of Chaco’s Governor Jorge Capitanich with the accusations made by the Director of Greenpeace Argentina, Natalia Machain,” said Reingold. “Very few stories in Argentina put into question with evidence the official narrative of extractivism and greenwashing conducted by governments, but this report did.”

Stop Ecocide liked Julian’s second story, and invited him to submit it to their blog as a guest post.

Furthermore, an activist and novelist from Spain read the stories on Chaco and asked Julian to interview him on his latest book.

Following the publication of Rubatheesan Sandran’s article, there have been substantial steps taken by authorities to prevent the illegal smuggling of sea cucumber across the Palk Straits between Sri Lanka and India.

Since this illegal trade was brought to their attention, the Navy stepped up its patrolling and surveillance activities in the region which resulted in thwarting attempts of such activities. The latest incident, reported on March 27, involved an individual accused of smuggling 230 kilograms of dried sea cucumber from India via Mannar. 

Furthermore, the fisherfolk community in the Northern province also became aware of the environmental impact of the massive wild harvest of sea cucumbers in the territorial waters as they complain of lesser fish catch in recent years. Local fisherfolk federations with the support of environmental advocacy groups also commenced awareness campaigns on the topic. On a positive note, there have been requests from both advocacy organizations and fishermen groups to legally ban harvesting sea cucumber by declaring it as protected species in the country’s waters as Indian authorities did years ago.

Local fishermen who engaged in the illegal harvesting of sea cucumber were also arrested and continue to be subjected to legal action by authorities as well.

The original article published in English was translated into the local vernacular language, Tamil, which enabled better reach among the local audience.

“Personally, I have been contacted by maritime researchers and fellow environmental journalists who are interested in this topic to study the issue further or for reporting purposes,” Rubatheesan Sandran added.

The GRID-Arendal Investigative Environmental Journalism grant programme has been supporting journalists’ work in this field since 2015. It is run by GRID-Arendal’s Transboundary Governance and Environmental Crime Programme and funded by Norad. GRID-Arendal is committed to continue and further develop its grant program in support of investigative environmental journalism. The next call for grant applications will be announced on our website in the fall of 2023.