The new site (www.biodiversityreporting.org) is hosted in English, Spanish and Portuguese, and features the articles that have competed in the Award since 1999. A fourth language, French, is being added this year.
"The variety and depth of these articles make this site a treasure trove for those that are interested in finding out more about environmental issues in these nations," said Conservation International's Vice President for International Communications and the competition's founder, Haroldo Castro. "It has articles from some of the region's leading papers, as well as excellent pieces from some smaller dailies. It's an international and multilingual platform that give journalists throughout the tropics the ability to share their work and experiences with their colleagues."
Organized by Conservation International, the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) and the International Federation of Environmental Journalists (IFEJ), the Award was founded in 1999 to recognize outstanding environmental reporting in biodiversity-rich countries. Initially held in Guatemala and Guyana, the Award has grown every year. During the 2004, the competition will be held in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Guyana, Madagascar and Peru. Also this year, Brazil will open the Award to television journalists.
"This website offers a beautiful showcase for environmental journalism from this group of biologically diverse countries," said Rob Taylor, director of Science and Environmental Programs for the International Center for Journalists. "I am confident it will give a boost to the competition and environmental coverage in general."
Each year, the top winners in each nation are invited to participate in an international environmental conference. In 2002 and 2003, journalists were taken to the annual meeting of the Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ) held in Baltimore, Maryland and New Orleans, Louisiana, respectively. This year the seven winners will travel to Mumbai, India for the annual meeting of the IFEJ from December 6 through 10, 2004.
Through the website, journalists can access the rules and an entry form to submit their articles. The BDRA's international jury will use the site to review and evaluate the articles online. Once they are judged, the articles are made available to the general public and are added to the BDRA's growing database.
The site also features the "Jury Gallery" with biographical sketches of the Award's judges and the "Winner's Gallery" with more information about each year's winners. The "Publications" section contains information about the regional booklets produced every year that highlight the winning articles; the "Press Releases" section has dozens of news releases organized by country and year, which reflect the history of the Award.
The deadlines for journalists to submit articles for this year's Award are:
Bolivia - May 7, 2004
Brazil - Apr 5, 2004
Colombia - May 7, 2004
Guyana - June 4, 2004
Peru - May 7, 2004
Madagascar - June 4, 2004
For more about the Biodiversity Reporting Award visit: www.biodiversityreporting.org
For more about Conservation International visit: www.conservation.org
For more about the ICFJ visit: www.icfj.org
For more about the IFEJ visit: www.ifej.org