The costly reality of environmental journalism in Africa
Mr Ayeni’s experience highlights an often-overlooked dimension of environmental journalism in Africa, where reporters investigating conservation, biodiversity and protected areas increasingly operate in territories where environmental governance overlaps with counterterrorism operations, border security and militarised policing.
In August 2023, Nigerian investigative journalist Damilola Ayeni, then an editor with the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), travelled to northern Benin as part of a cross-border investigation into environmental conservation around the Pendjari National Park.
South African investigative environmental journalist Fiona Macleod, founder and editor of the Oxpeckers Investigative Environmental Journalism Centre, noted in an interview with Dialogue Earth that the transition of Environmental Journalism from a “nice to have” beat to an essential one has consequences for journalists.
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