EJN Forest Governance Story Grants: Historical Reference

EJN Forest Governance Story Grants: Historical Reference

This individual story-grant call is finished. The Earth Journalism Network (EJN) closed applications for its Forest Governance Story Grants 2025 round on 6 January 2026 at 11:59 PM (Pacific/Niue). It planned to award up to seven story grants, averaging about £1,500 each, and offered editorial mentorship during production. There is no application to submit through this archived entry.

EJN subsequently announced a separate Forest Governance Media Initiative (FGMI) media-grant call for organisations. That call had a different applicant group and supported newsroom or journalism-capacity projects; it did not reopen the individual story grant described here. No successor individual forest-governance story-grant call is confirmed on the EJN opportunities pages checked for this update. Check the EJN opportunities index for a new announcement before preparing an application.

At a Glance

What the closed round funded

This was an in-depth reporting grant, not a fellowship or a stipend. Selected journalists received an average grant of about £1,500 to cover reporting costs, plus one-to-one editorial mentorship from EJN through the production of the story. Applicants could be from any country, but EJN said plainly that it was particularly interested in journalists based in Cameroon, Liberia, Ghana, Vietnam and Indonesia writing about forest governance at home, and in journalists in the UK, EU member states, China, India and Japan covering the international processes that shape what happens in producer countries.

That second category is the part most applicants underuse. Forest governance is not only a story about a logging concession in a specific district; it is also a story about import rules, due-diligence law, procurement policy and trade negotiation happening thousands of miles away. EJN funded both ends of that chain deliberately.

EJN may publish results and project updates separately from the opportunity page. Those updates are not an application route and do not create a new deadline. The later FGMI media-grant call was an organisational programme with its own terms; it was not a new round of these journalist story grants. This archive records the 2025 story-grant call and does not imply that an individual reader was selected or that EJN will repeat the same funding level.

No successor round announced

The official EJN opportunity pages checked for this update do not announce a new individual Forest Governance Story Grants round after the 2025 call. The program should therefore be treated as closed for application purposes. EJN did announce a separate FGMI media-grants opportunity for organisations; the distinction matters because it was aimed at media organisations and other eligible entities developing reporting projects or journalist capacity, not individual reporters applying for a story budget. That separate call has also closed. Neither it nor a workshop provides a route to submit an individual story proposal under this archived call.

That distinction matters because EJN uses similar language for several kinds of support. A story grant pays an individual journalist or a reporting group to produce a defined piece of journalism. A workshop provides training. An organisational grant supports a newsroom, network, or other institution. The subject may be forest governance in all three cases, but the applicant, budget, deliverables, and submission route are different. Readers should open the exact opportunity page before assuming that a new listing replaces this one.

The useful current action is to monitor the EJN opportunities index and the Forest Governance Media Initiative project page. Do not submit through an old account draft, reuse the archived deadline as if it were live, or send an unsolicited pitch by email. EJN’s FAQ says funding requests and story pitches are accepted through listed opportunities that match their criteria, rather than through general unsolicited requests.

How the closed application worked

The application route for this closed call was the EJN online opportunity platform. Applicants used the Apply now control on the call page, then logged in or created an EJN account. The EJN FAQ explains that a person who is not logged in cannot apply and that a saved draft can be reopened from the opportunity page while a call is live. Those instructions describe the completed process; they are not evidence that the archived form still accepts submissions.

Applicants prepared a focused story proposal and reporting plan, a detailed budget in EJN’s Excel template with justification for the requested amount, a signed editor letter confirming that the outlet would publish the resulting story, and two samples of published work or links to relevant reporting. Proposals had to be submitted in English. Applicants also had to be transparent about generative-AI tools used to revise a proposal; EJN reserved the right to exclude work submitted as AI-generated material presented as the applicant’s own.

The practical sequence was:

1. Confirm that the proposed story concerned forest governance rather than only a general environmental topic.
2. Select a reporting question, affected communities, decision-makers, documents, interviews, and publication outlet.
3. Secure the editor’s signed publication commitment before submitting.
4. Build a realistic budget around reporting costs such as travel, data gathering, interviews, translation, and production.
5. Attach two work samples, complete the online form in English, and submit before the published deadline.

That sequence cannot be used to apply to the closed round now. It is a record of what this particular call asked applicants to do, not a promise that a later EJN opportunity will use the same form, budget template, eligibility, samples, or publication conditions. Read the next call from the beginning before reusing any materials.

Preparing for a future individual story grant

EJN has not confirmed another individual forest-governance story grant. The points below describe the closed round and can help a reporter organise their thinking, but they are not eligibility rules for any future call. When EJN publishes a new opportunity, use its requirements and attachments as the authority.

An editor’s letter of support. This round required an editor to commit to publishing the resulting story by September 2026. For a freelancer without a standing outlet relationship, securing that commitment may take time. A new call could set a different publication schedule or use another proof of publication plan.

A proposal in English. EJN accepted applications only in English for this round. If English is not your first working language, allow time for editorial help on the proposal as well as the story. Confirm the language rule in any future call.

A narrow, provable governance question. A broad claim about corruption or deforestation is hard to report as a single story. Identify a decision, rule, budget, permit or enforcement process that can be examined, and explain who is affected by it. The 2025 call sought proposals that would add a distinct angle to forest-governance coverage.

A method you can execute. Explain the planned interviews and document trail, such as permit registers, licensing files, procurement lists, company filings, court records or budget lines. Be clear about access, field travel and who will produce any multimedia component.

A budget connected to the reporting plan. The average award in this round was about £1,500, so applicants needed to justify costs such as travel, interviews, translation, data gathering and production. The amount and template may differ in a future call.

Two published clips or work samples. The 2025 application asked for two examples or links to relevant work. Choose samples that show verification, reporting discipline and the ability to deliver a finished piece.

Source safety. Forest governance reporting may involve communities facing land-use pressure or conflict. Explain how you will seek informed consent, protect sensitive information and avoid exposing sources to unnecessary harm.

Honest self-assessment before the next round

Answer each of these in one word. More “no” than “yes” means the fix is a smaller, testable story, not a longer proposal.

• Can I state the governance conflict in one sentence without jargon?
• Do I know where the first two interviews happen?
• Do I have at least one document I can realistically obtain?
• Do I have an editor who will commit in writing to publishing this?
• Is my budget honest at roughly £1,500?
• Can I finish inside the production window stated in the next call?

For this closed call, a proposal was stronger when its reporting question, evidence, publication route and budget aligned. A broad promise to expose a problem without a plausible way to gather evidence would be difficult to assess. A future call may score proposals differently, so read its own judging criteria before adapting an old pitch.

Official links

• EJN opportunities index (check here for what is currently open): https://earthjournalism.net/opportunities
• The closed 2025 call page: https://earthjournalism.net/opportunities/forest-governance-story-grants-2025
• The distinct FGMI media-grants call for organisations: https://earthjournalism.net/opportunities/media-grants-to-strengthen-reporting-on-forest-governance-issues-in-africa-and-asia
• Forest Governance Media Initiative project page: https://earthjournalism.net/what-we-do/projects/forest-governance-media-initiative
• EJN home: https://earthjournalism.net/

What to do now

1. Treat this story-grant round as closed. Do not send a proposal to it.
2. Check the EJN opportunities index and FGMI project page for any separately announced workshop, organisational grant, or successor story grant. Confirm that the applicant type and grant purpose fit you before investing in an application.
3. Sign up for EJN’s mailing list so a successor forest round reaches you at announcement rather than shortly before the deadline.
4. Secure an editor’s letter of support now. It is portable across reporting grants, and it is the item most likely to delay a short application window.
5. Keep a one-page version of your proposal — question, method, budget, publication route — ready to adapt when EJN publishes a new call.