The #ShowMeYourTree campaign leverages the power of photos, food, film, and content creators to highlight the importance of conserving the region’s forests
The Mekong region is characterized by Southeast Asia’s longest river—the Mekong river—that flows through China, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. The region has rich rainforests that are home to a variety of flora and fauna, and communities that live in close proximity and depend on these forests for their sustenance. However, an increasing rate of deforestation as a result of a shift in agricultural practices such as monocropping and heavy logging are putting these ecosystems in danger.
The Pulitzer Center identified this as a relevant issue and developed a strategy to spread the word. This is how the #ShowMeYourTree campaign was born. The campaign urges people to build a connection with the forest across the Mekong region. The #ShowMeYourTree campaign comprised a range of activities, such as the Our Roots, Our Forests art exhibit, film screenings, and fundraising dinners, and worked with influencers to spread the message.
A range of special reporting projects, films, and stories from the Mekong region produced by Pulitzer Center grantees inspired the campaign. One such film is Cambodia Burning, by Rainforest Journalism Fund (RJF) grantee Sean Gallagher. The film was selected for screening under the “Beautiful Planet” theme at the Cambodia International Film Festival 2022 and was an important part of outreach activities within the Mekong region.
Leveraging Influencers’ Reach
The #ShowMeYourTree campaign included influencers, activists, and other nature enthusiasts who are passionate about conserving the region’s forests. Through the hashtag #ShowMeYourTree, content creators urged citizens to share anecdotes and memories rooted in nature. These stories and posts were shared through photos, reels, short films, comics, and more.
The Pulitzer Center conducted a short survey to gauge the awareness levels of influencers on the issue. The survey revealed that most were not familiar with the environmental challenges in the region. Therefore, training sessions and panel discussions were organized to acquaint them with issues concerning rainforests and how to effectively communicate them.
These sessions were facilitated by RJF grantees who have worked on conservation issues in the region and Indigenous activists. There were about 150 attendees for these sessions, and the translations were available in three Mekong languages: Thai, Khmer, and Burmese. About 77 influencers joined the initiative and published more than 135 posts that reached 1.35 million people.
The campaign engaged Thai influencers and digital creators, who visited Indigenous people and local communities in Pa Tueng Gnam village in northern Thailand. The influencers and creators learned about these communities’ sustainable way of living, rich culture and heritage, traditional conservation techniques, traditional food, and farming. They also explored the communities’ relationship with their home, the rainforest. To learn more about the influencers’ experience, watch the film here.
‘Our Roots, Our Forests’
The Our Roots, Our Forests art exhibit hosted at the Bangkok Art & Cultural Center sought to raise awareness through artistic expression. The two-week exhibition depicted environmental issues across Cambodia, Myanmar, and Thailand.
Stories supported by the Pulitzer Center were the inspiration for this exhibit. Twenty-two artists produced more than 20 pieces of art. The artists used different mediums from films and photography to illustrations and paintings to spark conversations about the past, present, and future of Southeast Asia’s rainforests. Around 4,000 people visited the exhibit during its two weeks.
Forging Connections Through Food
Artists selected by the Pulitzer Center organized full-course dinners reflective of local communities and their stories to nurture conversations around their context. This activity was held after the artists created artworks inspired by local stories.
One of the dinners’ goals was to raise funds to support communities from northern Thailand (Kampong Thom) and Cambodia. For example, Cambodian artists organized a Kouy sesame-inspired dinner in an effort to help the Kouy community buy back their lands.
The fundraising dinners had 50 attendees, and the effort was able to raise some funds to buy back land for community use.
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