The Rainforest Investigations Network (RIN) harnesses investigative reporting and cross-border collaboration to expose the intersection of climate change, corruption, and governance in the Amazon, Congo Basin, and Southeast Asia.

READ THE REPORTING | HOW IT WORKS | JOIN THE NETWORK | IMPACT


HOW IT WORKS

Each year of the initiative, the Pulitzer Center puts out a call for applications to dedicate a whole year to investigating deforestation in the world’s three main tropical rainforest regions. In its first year, RIN selected 13 Fellows from 10 countries. In the second year, the group expanded to 19 Fellows from 12 countries. In the third year, RIN selected 13 Fellows from 9 countries. Currently, we are supporting 9 Fellows from 6 countries.

The Fellows are assisted by the RIN data and research team to apply innovative investigation techniques, such as the exploration of large amounts of documents and geospatial analysis. And with the support of the Pulitzer Center’s education team, the network will share investigation findings at schools and universities. 


JOIN THE NETWORK

When we open the call for applications, we encourage experienced investigative journalists in each of the tropical rainforest regions as well as journalists based at major global media outlets to apply. The full-time, year-long fellowships will cover the reporter’s salary and provide additional support for the media outlet that employs the journalist (if on staff), or that agrees to host the Fellow (if a freelancer). They will receive training and data, communication, research, and coordination support from the Pulitzer Center. They will work closely with their co-Fellows worldwide, benefiting from one another’s skills and diverse perspectives. 

Applications for 2024 are now closed. Subscribe to our newsletter to be notified when applications open again in late 2024.

"Because of this Fellowship, I learned what companies are actually doing inside the biggest forest in Cameroon. I learned how to extract data from reports and use it in the investigation together with fieldwork. Every comment I received from the editors and RIN team gave me strength to do the investigation."

JOSIANE KOUAGHEU
2022 RIN Fellow (Cameroon)

"The RIN community has been incredibly supportive of all the work I've done, both with being incredibly inspirational in their own work, sharing information that they got themselves through their own sources, and giving advice. And supporting me through hard patches of the reporting process."

MANUELA ANDREONI
2021 RIN Fellow (Brazil)


IMPACT

RIN is driven by making impact. Journalists, outlets, and topics are selected based on the potential to publish stories that will have an impact. The Pulitzer Center’s Communications and Outreach teams work together with the RIN Fellows to expand their audience and promote the stories. RIN has also appeared in prestigious journalistic blogs such as GIJN and The Reuters Institute. Click here to learn more about how the Pulitzer Center defines impact.


CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT IMPACT

Smells Like Deforestation (Cheiro de Desmatamento)

In the face of questions and the evidence presented in a RIN-supported investigation, Nestlé announced that its Vital Proteins brand would no longer do business with suppliers from the Amazon region.


CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT IMPACT

New AI Platform Monitors Mining in the Amazon Rainforest

Mining, one of the main causes of the degradation of rivers and forests in the Amazon, can now be monitored remotely by journalists, scientists, and other concerned citizens.


CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT IMPACT

Making Impact and Publishing Data: Our RIN Fellow Investigated Indigenous Land Rights in Malaysia

A few days after Malaysian journalist Yao-Hua Law published “Deforestation Adds to Decades of Indigenous Land Rights Struggle in Malaysia,” the Orang Asli Indigenous community at the center of the story took action to stop the logging of their land.

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