Conservation International organizes second Biodiversity Reporting Award
The second annual Biodiversity Reporting Award competition organised by Conservation International in collaboration with the International Federation of Environmental Journalists (IFEJ) and the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) is being held again this year. According to an information kit produced by the organisers all articles for this year must be submitted by Monday, July 3, 2000. However, participants are encouraged to submit their stories well in advance of the deadline. No late entries will be considered and the articles must be submitted to Sandra Seeraj, Contest Co-ordinator, Conservation International Guyana, 112 B Laluni Street, Georgetown. Tel (02) 52978, e-mail CIGCOM@guyana.net.gy. The kit stated that the contest would consider only printed articles published in the local print media of Guyana. Each journalist would be able to submit up to five published articles. It said that the submissions should have been published in newspapers or magazines between August 1, 1999, and June 30, 2000. The participants will submit each original article in its entirety along with the entry form information via PC diskette or e-mail. All articles must be submitted in an electronic format, or they will be disqualified, since all entries will be reproduced on the contest website located within the CI web site. The contest is open for staff and freelance journalists who reside in Guyana and work in or with the local or national media. The contest will be announced through direct notification to the printed media outlets by means of letters to editors and journalists, visits to newspapers and magazines, distribution of press releases, and information on the Internet. According to the CI kit, the entries accepted will be reviewed at the contest website and a jury of five people, representing different international journalism and conversation organisations, such as IFEJ, ICFJ and CI, will judge the entries. Each participant can be awarded only one prize. The results of the contest will be announced publicly through the national media and on the contest web site in early September 2000. The first prize, said the CI kit, would be an expenses-paid trip to participate in the 8th World Congress of Environmental Journalists that will take place in Cairo, Egypt on November 13-17, 2000. It included a round-trip airline ticket from Georgetown to Cairo, hotel accommodation and meals during the congress, and registration fee. If the first-prize article had been produced by more than one journalist, then the authors would have to choose a representative from among themselves to go to the conference; there would be no substitution of travel expenses with a cash award, the information kit said. The first prize winner would also receive an award certificate at the conference, a two-year honorary membership of the IFEJ, and a journalism resource kit from ICFJ. The honorary membership of the IFEJ and the resource kit would also be presented to the second and third place winners, along with cash prizes of $50,000 and $25,000 respectively. In 1999, the Biodiversity Reporting Award was organised in Guyana and Guatemala. In Guyana Robert Bazil won the first prize with his article "Millennium Watch: Fresh Hope For The Sea Turtle," published in the Guyana Chronicle, while Nivedta Kowlessar and Andrew Richards won the second and third places respectively.
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