Funding

Grant

Research Program•Remote

Rainforest Reporting Grant

Pulitzer Center

Application Deadline

Rolling admission

Official Page

The Rainforest Reporting Grant is the Pulitzer Center’s short-term, project-based funding for journalists covering tropical rainforests in three regions: the Amazon, Central Africa (the Congo Basin), and Southeast Asia. The Pulitzer Center is a non-profit based in Washington, DC that funds independent journalism on systemic global issues. The grant is an evolution of the Rainforest Journalism Fund, which over five years supported more than 300 projects and 600 journalists who produced 1,700 reports, and it is backed by Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI).

Grantees stay in their own newsrooms and countries and publish through their own outlets; the money pays the hard costs of the reporting. The Center asks for ambitious proposals on underreported, systemic issues — extractive industries, forest governance, carbon markets, Indigenous rights, biodiversity — and encourages work driven by data, technology, and cross-border collaboration. Applications are accepted year-round.

Benefits & funding

  • Most grants fall in the range of US$8,000 to US$15,000; amounts may be higher depending on project specifics such as technology or consultancy costs.
  • Funding covers hard reporting costs — travel, accommodation, translation, data analysis, and working with local partners.
  • Applications are accepted in five languages (English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and bahasa Indonesia), and grantees may produce their reports in these or other languages.
  • Published work joins the Pulitzer Center’s rainforest reporting body of work, which has driven corporate sanctions, policy revisions, and exposure of wildlife trafficking.
  • Not funded: books (a story that later becomes part of a book can be supported if it is first published independently in a media outlet); feature-length films (short documentaries with ambitious distribution plans are supported); staff salaries, except for some yearlong fellowships; equipment purchases (rentals are considered case by case); an outlet’s general expenses such as rent, utilities, and insurance; seed money for start-ups; routine breaking news coverage; advocacy campaigns; and data projects aimed solely at academic research.

Eligibility

  • Open to all journalists: writers, photographers, radio producers, and filmmakers; staff journalists as well as freelancers.
  • No nationality or residency requirement is stated. The Center says it values a diversity of voices across gender, ethnicity, background, and nationality, and supports both established and emerging journalists.
  • No degree requirement is stated; the bar is a record of published work.
  • The proposed project must report on tropical rainforest issues in the Amazon, Central Africa, or Southeast Asia.
  • Applications may be written in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, or bahasa Indonesia.
  • Projects in hostile environments must follow ACOS Alliance principles; freelancers reporting from conflict zones need a firm assignment from a news organisation that assumes responsibility for their safety.
  • The Center says it aims to support teams that reflect the communities they report on.

Can you apply?

Open to all applicants

No nationality, residency, education, or experience limits are listed.

Circlebreaker is a free database of global fellowships, scholarships and programs — every one decoded like this.

We only check the criteria we have data for. Always confirm full eligibility on the official page before applying.

Application process

  1. 1
    Read the Pulitzer Center grant application guidelines before starting.
  2. 2
    Write a description of the proposed project in no more than 250 words — the Center calls this the most important part of the submission.
  3. 3
    Prepare a thorough publication and distribution plan with letters of interest or commitment from editors and news outlets; freelancers should show interest from more than one outlet.
  4. 4
    Draft a preliminary budget estimate with a basic breakdown of costs, limited to hard costs.
  5. 5
    Gather three samples of published work (print or broadcast), three professional references, and a copy of your curriculum vitae.
  6. 6
    Submit everything through the Pulitzer Center’s online application form; questions go to reacheditorial@pulitzercenter.org.
  7. 7
    Watch for a confirmation of receipt, then a decision; the grant page says applicants typically hear back within two weeks.

Program timeline

  1. Rolling

    applications accepted year-round, no fixed deadline

  2. Within 1 week of submission

    confirmation of receipt

  3. Within 2 weeks of submission

    typical response on a rainforest grant application

  4. After a decision

    reporting and publication follow the schedule set out in the proposal

The monthly round-up

New fellowships, scholarships and programs, once a month. No account needed.