Investigating environmental abuses in remote, vast areas like the Amazon rainforest presents a challenge for newsrooms. The limited access, the presence of organized crime, and budget constraints make it difficult to plan extensive reporting trips. But geolocation tools — often free, open-source applications like QGIS— can be a strategic ally to enable newsrooms to advance
Late on a Thursday night in 2005, Brazilian journalist Manoel Francisco Brito called a source looking for data on Amazon deforestation. He had been working double shifts for a year, since he co-founded ((o))eco, one of the first digital newsrooms in the country fully dedicated to covering environmental issues. Despite the long hours, Brito didn’t
By Letícia Duarte & Nathan Tisdale Non-Fungible Tokens or NFTs became popular a couple of years ago as a way to certify ownership and authenticity of digital assets. So what does that have to do with the carbon market and the conservation of indigenous lands in the Amazon? The answer is much more complex than
In 2022, Brazilian Indigenous activist Sonia Guajajara was recognized by TIME magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Now, as the head of Brazil’s first-ever Ministry of Indigenous Peoples, she faces the challenge of implementing the policies she has always advocated for. A recent achievement came when, following her advice,
By Letícia Duarte and Nathan Tisdale Corruption is one of the biggest challenges for Mexico, as a tradition of opaque governments and the influence of organized crime influence not just the public sector, but all layers of society. Mexico ranked 126 among 180 countries in Transparency International’s 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index, with 44 percent of
As it is often the case with environmental agreements, the recent joint declaration signed by the eight countries to safeguard the Amazon rainforest is full of good intentions. But the absence of concrete goals against deforestation and climate change has upset environmentalists and local communities, who worry that these words may not translate into tangible
Brazil recently recognized six new indigenous territories, a significant move to safeguard ancestral lands and the environment. The area granted officially by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva covers a total of 800 square miles, primarily located in the Amazon. This is the first official demarcation of indigenous lands since 2018, indicating a policy shift
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The murders of the British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira during a reporting trip in the Brazilian Amazon have once again exposed the risks for those investigating environmental issues and Indigenous communities. Phillips and Pereira were murdered last month in the Javari Valley, close to Brazil’s border with Peru and Colombia,