September 2009

PARIS (Reporters sans frontières/Pacific Media Watch): In many countries, journalists who specialise in covering environmental issues are on the front line of a new war. Their work poses a threat to many companies, organised crime groups and even governments that profit from misuse of the environment. These journalists are regarded as undesired witnesses and sometimes as enemies to be physically eliminated.

To support these journalists, the guardians of our planet, Reporters Without Borders is publishing a new photography book – Nature: 100 photos for press freedom. It offers some of the finest work ever produced by Minden Pictures, an agency renowned for the extraordinary quality of its photos of nature and wildlife.

Many people who defend the environment have contributed to this book, including French ecologist Nicolas Hulot, who wrote the preface, and British primatologist Jane Goodall, a UN Messenger of Peace, who gave a long interview.

The book will be on sale at local bookshops, specialised shops, and outlets.

Reporters Without Borders has been publishing three books of photographs a year since 1992 as an independent source of funding for its activities in defence of journalists and press freedom throughout the world.

Reporters Without Borders is also releasing a report entitled “The dangers for journalists who expose environmental issues.” It highlights the indifference and even complicity of some governments and authorities that make little attempt to protect journalists who take risks to investigate attacks on the environment.

The report looks at 13 cases of journalists and bloggers who have been killed, physically attacked, jailed, threatened or censored for reporting on the environment, and highlights the need for a free press to tackle ecological challenges.

In countries such as Russia, Cambodia, Brazil or even Bulgaria, in Europe, journalists run considerable risks when they try to alert the world about the misdeeds of those who prey on the environment.

* Download the report : www.rsf.org/IMG/rapport_en_md.pdf