“He was really beaten”: Violence towards fishers continues on Lake Victoria
Fishers in Lake Victoria continue to work in fear and trepidation, with many of them detailing acts of violence by the Ugandan armed forces who insist their methods have helped quell illegal fishing.
COP27: This is no time for apathy or complacency; the urgency of the moment is upon us
ERC joins the Guardian's editorial on COP27, calling for action from world leaders on the climate crisis along with more than 30 media organisations in more than 20 countries. Climate change is a global problem that requires cooperation between all nations. That’s why today more than 30 newspapers and media organisations in more than 20 […]
Countries fail to agree on Antarctic conservation measures for fifth straight year
By: Richa Syal For the fifth year in a row, a council of nations involved in Antarctic fishing operations have failed to agree on new conservation measures which experts had hoped would protect the Southern Ocean from overfishing, particularly of the keystone krill species. Members of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living […]
NOTE: GRANT APPLICATIONS ARE CLOSED FOR 2023 The Environmental Reporting Collective are offering training grants for journalists and newsrooms to organise self-tailored training programmes for themselves, but which are also open to other ERC partner newsrooms and journalists. Grantees will organise the training themselves, with assistance from the ERC Core Team. We’re offering three grants […]
Call for Applications: ERC Collaborative Reporting Grants
Applications for our Collaborative Reporting Grants are now open. The deadline is August 15th, 2023. The Environmental Reporting Collective (ERC) is now again accepting applications for its Collaborative Reporting Grants to support journalists working together on tracing environmental crimes across borders. In 2022, ERC supported nine teams of reporters working from more than a dozen […]
South Korean media are honing in on environmental reporting
By Seulki Lee SEOUL – South Korea's journalists have had to fight fiercely for their independence. These struggles shaped newsroom culture, putting politics first in most investigative reporting. Environmental reporters who try to report beyond the protests and campaigns in the established media organizations thus have an additional task: to persuade editors that their beat matters […]
We asked 50 journalists in Asia how they’d improve environmental journalism. Here’s what they had to say
By Ryan Ho Kilpatrick Environmental journalists foreshadowed the dangers of zoonotic diseases and alerted us to the perils of climate change that are now part of our lives. But writers of environmental news see vital areas for improvement. According to a survey of environmentalist journalists mostly based in Asia by the Environmental Reporting Collective, the […]
A data investigation by #WildEye Asia exposes lenient punishments for pangolin offences in China. Such sentences are unlikely to deter illegal trade. Data collated by #WildEye Asia shows that, of the 34 criminals convicted of pangolin-related crimes since late 2019, close to half were given suspended sentences of less than a year. This meant they did […]
Op-ed by Gie Goris and Jago Kosolosky, current and future editor-in-chief of MO*, Belgium. Late last year, MO* under the leadership of Gie published The Pangolin Reports in Flemish. On Aug. 1, 2020, Jago will take over the helm from Gie as editor-in-chief of MO* magazine and the news site. This op-ed first appeared on […]
Ten things we learned from coordinating this global reporting project
Editors and ERC co-founders Patrick Böhler and Ying Chan detail how The Pangolin Reports collaboration initially began or the Global Investigative Journalism Network, and point out lessons learned throughout the year of reporting on pangolin trafficking. Read the full article here.
How we embraced Creative Commons licenses to amplify our reach
Our managing editor, Patrick Böhler recently spoke about how our reporting in The Pangolin Reports used Creative Commons licensing to increase public access and leverage local journalistic expertise. Read the full exchange here.
The Pangolin Reports turn into podcast productions in English and Chinese
Today, we’re extremely proud to share episode one of Sustainable Asia’s podcast series on the Pangolin Reports. Executive producer Marcy Trent Long and her team worked with our reporters Xu Jiaming and Tin Htet Paing as they retraced pangolin smuggling routes in Myanmar. Listen to the first episode on their site, Pocket Casts, Spotify, iTunes, or on your favourite podcast platform. […]
Could pangolins be a piece of the coronavirus puzzle?
Researchers in Guangzhou said pangolins are a possible “intermediate host” of the novel coronavirus that has killed more than 630 people in China. We’re looking into their findings and will share more detailed information as soon as possible. Read here our report at Myanmar Now, and the South China Morning Post’s report. Here’s our report in Chinese at […]
We looked into a Chinese pangolin smuggling syndicate. Here’s what we found
Our colleagues Karen Zhang and Xu Jiaming published their investigation into a Chinese wildlife smuggling syndicate. According to court documents in mainland China, the group smuggled at least three shipments of more than four tonnes of pangolin scales worth 3.8 million yuan (US$547,500) from Nigeria to China, with the cargo going through South Korea and […]
The Pangolin Reports have been translated into Burmese, Flemish and Bahasa Indonesia
We released our global investigative reportto the public domain under the Creative Commons’ BY-NC-ND license, making translating and republishing the report simple and free. This has led to some great translations that helped us spread the reach of our reporting. In Myanmar, our colleagues at Myanmar Now translated our investigation into Burmese. But they didn’t stop there. They shared the report […]
Pangolins are trafficked in plain sight across Myanmar
Our Chinese reporter, Xu Jiaming, teamed up with Tin Htet Paing, a senior reporter at Myanmar Now, to visit markets, restaurants and shops in major trade hubs across the country, feigning interest in buying pangolins. They found consumption and trade of the nearly extinct animal to be more pervasive and more brazen than we had expected […]
Here’s how pangolin hunting is happening under officials’ watch in the Philippines
Our colleagues at Rappler in the Philippines released their two-part series this week on poaching in Palawan. We strongly encourage you to read their work. It was the product of weeks of painstaking reporting. Its two parts look at two dilemmas: Part 1: How local politicians can’t clamp down on poaching because they’d risk losing the support […]
Malaysia: The Pangolin And The Dark World Of Trafficking
Today, our partners at R.AGE in Malaysia published an incredible investigative storybook on their reporting on the pangolin trade. Here’s how they describe the effort: “Once there was a group of journalists who set out to expose the illicit pangolin trade in Malaysia with hard-hitting videos and sharp news copy. But they returned with a collection of […]
Malaysia’s top cop pledges to investigate officers involved in pangolin smuggling
MALAYSIA: Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador will investigate reports on police officers being involved in smuggling activities. “Anyone – including security officers – who works with smuggling syndicates would have action taken against them. “I even welcome whipping as punishment, ” he said, reiterating an earlier statement to introduce the punishment as […]
Our report on police officers’ role in wildlife smugglings triggers corruption probe
R.AGE’s expose on the involvement of Malaysian police in the smuggling of endangered pangolins has triggered an investigation by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). “We have conducted undercover work and exposed corruption practices at our border (in the past), but we never looked into corruption in wildlife smuggling specifically,” said MACC deputy chief commissioner (operations) […]
Stop using pangolins in Traditional Chinese Medicine, experts say
Pangolins should not be used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) as there are cheaper and more sustainable alternatives, said Malaysian Chinese Medical Association general secretary Dr Kong Why Hong. “Pangolin flesh and boiled pangolin scale soup are consumed to treat abscesses, improve blood circulation, increase lactation, reduce menstrual pain and treat skin rashes, ” said […]
“He was really beaten”: Violence towards fishers continues on Lake Victoria
Fishers in Lake Victoria continue to work in fear and trepidation, with many of them detailing acts of violence by the Ugandan armed forces who insist their methods have helped quell illegal fishing.
COP27: This is no time for apathy or complacency; the urgency of the moment is upon us
ERC joins the Guardian's editorial on COP27, calling for action from world leaders on the climate crisis along with more than 30 media organisations in more than 20 countries. Climate change is a global problem that requires cooperation between all nations. That’s why today more than 30 newspapers and media organisations in more than 20 […]
Countries fail to agree on Antarctic conservation measures for fifth straight year
By: Richa Syal For the fifth year in a row, a council of nations involved in Antarctic fishing operations have failed to agree on new conservation measures which experts had hoped would protect the Southern Ocean from overfishing, particularly of the keystone krill species. Members of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living […]
NOTE: GRANT APPLICATIONS ARE CLOSED FOR 2023 The Environmental Reporting Collective are offering training grants for journalists and newsrooms to organise self-tailored training programmes for themselves, but which are also open to other ERC partner newsrooms and journalists. Grantees will organise the training themselves, with assistance from the ERC Core Team. We’re offering three grants […]
Call for Applications: ERC Collaborative Reporting Grants
Applications for our Collaborative Reporting Grants are now open. The deadline is August 15th, 2023. The Environmental Reporting Collective (ERC) is now again accepting applications for its Collaborative Reporting Grants to support journalists working together on tracing environmental crimes across borders. In 2022, ERC supported nine teams of reporters working from more than a dozen […]
South Korean media are honing in on environmental reporting
By Seulki Lee SEOUL – South Korea's journalists have had to fight fiercely for their independence. These struggles shaped newsroom culture, putting politics first in most investigative reporting. Environmental reporters who try to report beyond the protests and campaigns in the established media organizations thus have an additional task: to persuade editors that their beat matters […]
We asked 50 journalists in Asia how they’d improve environmental journalism. Here’s what they had to say
By Ryan Ho Kilpatrick Environmental journalists foreshadowed the dangers of zoonotic diseases and alerted us to the perils of climate change that are now part of our lives. But writers of environmental news see vital areas for improvement. According to a survey of environmentalist journalists mostly based in Asia by the Environmental Reporting Collective, the […]
A data investigation by #WildEye Asia exposes lenient punishments for pangolin offences in China. Such sentences are unlikely to deter illegal trade. Data collated by #WildEye Asia shows that, of the 34 criminals convicted of pangolin-related crimes since late 2019, close to half were given suspended sentences of less than a year. This meant they did […]
Op-ed by Gie Goris and Jago Kosolosky, current and future editor-in-chief of MO*, Belgium. Late last year, MO* under the leadership of Gie published The Pangolin Reports in Flemish. On Aug. 1, 2020, Jago will take over the helm from Gie as editor-in-chief of MO* magazine and the news site. This op-ed first appeared on […]
Ten things we learned from coordinating this global reporting project
Editors and ERC co-founders Patrick Böhler and Ying Chan detail how The Pangolin Reports collaboration initially began or the Global Investigative Journalism Network, and point out lessons learned throughout the year of reporting on pangolin trafficking. Read the full article here.
How we embraced Creative Commons licenses to amplify our reach
Our managing editor, Patrick Böhler recently spoke about how our reporting in The Pangolin Reports used Creative Commons licensing to increase public access and leverage local journalistic expertise. Read the full exchange here.
The Pangolin Reports turn into podcast productions in English and Chinese
Today, we’re extremely proud to share episode one of Sustainable Asia’s podcast series on the Pangolin Reports. Executive producer Marcy Trent Long and her team worked with our reporters Xu Jiaming and Tin Htet Paing as they retraced pangolin smuggling routes in Myanmar. Listen to the first episode on their site, Pocket Casts, Spotify, iTunes, or on your favourite podcast platform. […]
Could pangolins be a piece of the coronavirus puzzle?
Researchers in Guangzhou said pangolins are a possible “intermediate host” of the novel coronavirus that has killed more than 630 people in China. We’re looking into their findings and will share more detailed information as soon as possible. Read here our report at Myanmar Now, and the South China Morning Post’s report. Here’s our report in Chinese at […]
We looked into a Chinese pangolin smuggling syndicate. Here’s what we found
Our colleagues Karen Zhang and Xu Jiaming published their investigation into a Chinese wildlife smuggling syndicate. According to court documents in mainland China, the group smuggled at least three shipments of more than four tonnes of pangolin scales worth 3.8 million yuan (US$547,500) from Nigeria to China, with the cargo going through South Korea and […]
The Pangolin Reports have been translated into Burmese, Flemish and Bahasa Indonesia
We released our global investigative reportto the public domain under the Creative Commons’ BY-NC-ND license, making translating and republishing the report simple and free. This has led to some great translations that helped us spread the reach of our reporting. In Myanmar, our colleagues at Myanmar Now translated our investigation into Burmese. But they didn’t stop there. They shared the report […]
Pangolins are trafficked in plain sight across Myanmar
Our Chinese reporter, Xu Jiaming, teamed up with Tin Htet Paing, a senior reporter at Myanmar Now, to visit markets, restaurants and shops in major trade hubs across the country, feigning interest in buying pangolins. They found consumption and trade of the nearly extinct animal to be more pervasive and more brazen than we had expected […]
Here’s how pangolin hunting is happening under officials’ watch in the Philippines
Our colleagues at Rappler in the Philippines released their two-part series this week on poaching in Palawan. We strongly encourage you to read their work. It was the product of weeks of painstaking reporting. Its two parts look at two dilemmas: Part 1: How local politicians can’t clamp down on poaching because they’d risk losing the support […]
Malaysia: The Pangolin And The Dark World Of Trafficking
Today, our partners at R.AGE in Malaysia published an incredible investigative storybook on their reporting on the pangolin trade. Here’s how they describe the effort: “Once there was a group of journalists who set out to expose the illicit pangolin trade in Malaysia with hard-hitting videos and sharp news copy. But they returned with a collection of […]
Malaysia’s top cop pledges to investigate officers involved in pangolin smuggling
MALAYSIA: Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador will investigate reports on police officers being involved in smuggling activities. “Anyone – including security officers – who works with smuggling syndicates would have action taken against them. “I even welcome whipping as punishment, ” he said, reiterating an earlier statement to introduce the punishment as […]
Our report on police officers’ role in wildlife smugglings triggers corruption probe
R.AGE’s expose on the involvement of Malaysian police in the smuggling of endangered pangolins has triggered an investigation by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). “We have conducted undercover work and exposed corruption practices at our border (in the past), but we never looked into corruption in wildlife smuggling specifically,” said MACC deputy chief commissioner (operations) […]
Stop using pangolins in Traditional Chinese Medicine, experts say
Pangolins should not be used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) as there are cheaper and more sustainable alternatives, said Malaysian Chinese Medical Association general secretary Dr Kong Why Hong. “Pangolin flesh and boiled pangolin scale soup are consumed to treat abscesses, improve blood circulation, increase lactation, reduce menstrual pain and treat skin rashes, ” said […]
The Environmental Reporting Collective is a network of journalists in countries including Abuja, Bangkok, Hanoi, Hong Kong, Kathmandu, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Guangzhou, New Delhi, Singapore, Taipei, Tokyo, Toronto, Yangon, and Zürich
