National Geographic Society announces 2020 RFPs “Stories for Tropical Rainforests”

Deadline: 21-Oct-20

The National Geographic Society is currently seeking proposals for “Stories for Tropical Rainforests”.

National Geographic is interested in supporting storytelling projects that highlight ecosystem-scale stories and solutions-oriented attempts to mitigate or reverse human impacts.

They need journalists, photographers, filmmakers, cartographers, data visualizers, and socially-connected storytellers who can show what they might lose if these biomes are not protected and highlight potential solutions that have the power to create real, sustainable improvements.

Examples of potential story angles:

• Connected impacts in cities and farming communities
  They know about threats such as deforestation, but what stories haven’t been told? What’s happening with more subtle interactions such as the introduction of urban pollution or the decreases in insect biomass? Where do sources of resilience exist?
• Indigenous peoples and traditional community voices
  Millions of people live, work and play in the Amazon, the Congo, and the tropical forests of southeast Asia. What are sustainable solutions that account for both the ecosystems and the people who depend on them? How can a mix of technology and tradition foster guardianship within indigenous and traditional communities?
• Solutions and resilience
  How are communities, individuals, and/or wildlife in these regions adapting to the changing climate? Are there innovative ways to reveal how recent climate changes affect local communities, ecosystems and biodiversity?

Funding Information

• Proposals will be funded from the local equivalent of $5,000 to $70,000 USD with clear justification necessary for budget requests.
• Budgets of successful proposals will include reasonable, well-justified costs directly required to complete the project.

Eligibility Criteria

• Journalists and storytellers (photo, film, text, maps, data visualization) are allowed to apply, as are social media influencers and content creators looking to highlight traditional and indigenous knowledge on their channels and indigenous youth aiming to expand their storytelling on YouTube and Instagram.
• Priority for this RFP will be given to projects led by journalists and storytellers from countries within the relevant regions (Amazon River basin, Congo River basin, and rainforests in southeast Asia).
• Projects that benefit local communities or incorporate local voices are also strongly encouraged, as are local-language outputs.
• If you are applying as a vlogger, please submit a short video (two minutes or less) of yourself describing the following:
  • A brief description of your project
  • Why you’re excited about this project
  • What you hope to accomplish with this project
• You can use your laptop or cell phone camera to film yourself in front of a plain (not distracting) background in a quiet location. You may submit a video in a non-English language. However, if you choose to do so, you must either subtitle in English or submit a transcript of your video in English.

For more information, visit https://www.nationalgeographic.org/funding-opportunities/grants/what-we-fund/tropical-rainforest-story/