Call for Reporting Grants on Biodiversity Threats in Nile Basin Lakes

Call for Reporting Grants on Biodiversity Threats in Nile Basin Lakes

InfoNile invites journalists in the 11 Nile Basin countries to submit proposals for in-depth investigative multimedia journalism stories on threats to biodiversity in Nile basin lakes. These stories are part of a series of stories focusing on biodiversity in the Nile Basin and will feed into a final data journalism project including interactive maps and stories.

The Nile Basin hosts the Great Lakes of Africa among others. These lakes are biodiversity hotspots, making up unique habitats containing a myriad of animals and plants.

However, the natural heritage in these lakes is being threatened by a wide range of issues, for example;

Lake Tanganyika in Tanzania, which is habitat to more than 1,500 plant and animal species, of which 40% are endemic, is threatened by population growth, overexploitation of biological resources, invasive species and pollution among others, while Lake Turkana in Kenya and Ethiopia is threatened by the impacts from the construction of Gibe III dam.

InfoNile wants you to focus on a lake in your country where biodiversity is being threatened.

Connect the science, research and data to the reality of the threats and how biodiversity in your country is susceptible to these threats. Why does conserving biodiversity matter to the people, environment, economy and politics of your country? Your story pitch should contain a plan to integrate data analysis and visualization of biodiversity issues on different sectors or topics relevant to your story; i.e. habitats, human pressures, degradation, protected areas, species richness, threatened species richness – and indicators relating to the impact of biodiversity on human health, water access and scarcity, livelihoods, etc.

Note: If you receive a grant, you will get technical support with designing graphics, data visualization and mapping.

However, you will be required to shoot video footage and interviews.

If you do not have that expertise, please propose a videographer you can travel with who can collect footage.

Questions

Questions to answer in your story: