To bring greater awareness of socio-environmental issues in Latin America, Mongabay is currently accepting pitches for written and video-based stories in English and Spanish.

In English, Mongabay is currently seeking story proposals on the following topics:

• Forests with an emphasis on recent deforestation and forest degradation, and illegalities associated with deforestation (i.e. logging, fires, land grabbing, etc.), as well as nature-based solutions for curbing deforestation and climate change. For more details, please review the tropical forests and reforestation.
• Agribusiness (especially cattle and soy production) and extractive industries (especially artisanal and industrial mining), in particular tracing global supply chain relationships and covering efforts to create and maintain profitable and environmentally-sound businesses. For more details, please review the tropical forests and land rights and extractives projects.
• Nature-climate solutions, i.e. conservation, restoration and improved land management initiatives in the region (e.g. agroecology, soil carbon, etc).
• Conservation activities, new scientific findings, and projects in Central and South America with an emphasis on the tropical Andes.
• Infrastructure development inclusive of roads, railways, industrial waterways, ports, dams, electrical transmission lines, and their financing.
• Indigenous peoples and traditional rural communities, with a preference for stories relevant to land rights, the maintenance of traditional cultures and creation of sustainable livelihoods.
• Wildlife and biodiversity inclusive of terrestrial and aquatic freshwater ecosystems, with a focus on specific locales, and/or plants and animals.
• Changes in legislation and policies that could considerably affect the management and conservation and other forested biomes.

For the purposes of this process, Latin America includes the following countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Uruguay, Venezuela.

To pitch a story pertaining to Brazil, please refer to this page for guidance.

In Spanish, please visit this page for guidance.

Opinion pieces, or commentaries, will not be considered for this project and are not paid opportunities. Please share commentary pitches using this form and refer to submission guidelines here.

Each story will be between 800 and 2,000 words in length and will include quotes from at least three original interviews. Authors will be expected to provide five to 10 publishable photos free for Mongabay’s use to accompany their articles, along with captions and photo credits.

Mongabay will negotiate all fees and contracts on a per-story basis. Completed stories will be paid on a per word or fixed fee basis, with rates depending primarily on the journalist’s experience. Mongabay.com publishes under an open Creative Commons license that allows for sharing, translation, and re-posting. More information on Mongabay’s editorial standards and practice can be found here.

How to submit your story pitch

To send Mongabay a pitch, please be prepared to also share your resume/portfolio along with three samples of your work. The story pitch should be roughly 500 words in length and include a title for the project. Viable pitches will clearly explain the specific subject you would like to write about in detail and your approach to covering it, and describe a few potential sources. If you are proposing a story that is led by video, please indicate that and include a short description of your video idea. Pitches for video-led stories should also include an expected shot list and interviews.

Please use one of the following forms so that the information is directed to the most appropriate editors:

• Pitch a story to the Latin America team in English
• Pitch a story to the Latin America team in Spanish