APFEJ ANNOUNCES ASIA-PACIFIC ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNALISM AWARDS

The Asia-Pacific Forum of Environmental Journalists(APFEJ) is
currently accepting entries for the
2009 Asia-Pacific Awards for Excellence in Environmental Journalism.An
APFEJ initiative, the awards
"recognize the efforts of journalists working on environmental issues
and to encourage environmental
journalism across the region." Interested journalists are asked to
submit stories that were published
in local media between 1 January and 31 December 2008. Submissions can
cover or address
"any aspect of the environment" in the region or the applicant's
country. This work can include
scientific research and findings, protected areas, climate change,
ecotourism, conservation,
sustainable development, eco-friendly alternative products and fuels,
environmental education,
environmental political issues, threats to the environment, mining,
logging, oil extraction and
other forms of exploitation of natural resources and social issues
related to the environment.
The contest was first introduced in 1990 to promote high quality
coverage of environmental issues
and acknowledge the work of communication professionals in that field.

APFEJ,the oldest and largest organization of professional
environmental journalists,
contacts over 12,000 members around the world.From 12 members at its
establishment in 1988, APFEJ has grown to encompass 154 members - of
which 42 are from
within the Asia and Pacific region and 112 outside. The mission of
APFEJ to build into a strong,
independent and committed to promote excellence in environmental
journalism worldwide by
supporting environmental journalists specially Asia pacific through
Professionalism, Freedom of
expression, Social responsibility, environmental justice, Networking
and training.

Entries (including photocopies) must be submitted in the surface mail
by August 31,2009 and
sent to Dharman Wickremaratne, Director,Asia-Pacific Forum of
Environmental Journalists(APFEJ),
P.O.Box 26, 434/3 Sri Jayawardenapura, Sri Lanka. E-mail:
ejournalists@gmail.com.
Applicants must also include their full name, address, phone /fax/
email contact numbers,
dates of publication, and names of newspapers/magazines. Print,
electronic and on-line all journalists
and photographers, full time or freelance, can take part in the
contest.They should be residents
of the Asia-Pacific region and work in or with the local or national
media.There are no entry fees
of any kind for submissions. More details on the awards can be viewed on
http://www.environmentaljournalists.org web site.

Six sub-regional winners will also be announced, recognizing quality
environmental coverage
in Central Asia, East Asia, South East Asia, South Asia, West Asia and
the Pacific.
Regional winners will receive certificates, three-year membership to
APFEJ and a
fully-paid trip to 18th World Congress of Environmental Journalists
held in Colombo- Sri Lanka
from 19- 22,October 2009.They will have an opportunity to meet with
colleagues from
around the world to share experiences and examine important issues
related to environmental reporting.
The congress is an opportunity for the selected journalists to further
discuss on the above-mentioned
subjects and develop better stories in future.

The awards, along with certificates will be presented to the winners
on October 19,2009
in a special ceremony. The APFEJ will host the congress, which it has called
"2009 most important event yet for environmental journalism in Asia -pacific".
The congress,which will involve more than 100 participants from nearly
50 countries,
will focus on "Educate to end Climate poverty" reports APFEJ.

The previous awards have been sponsored by the UNEP,ADB and German FNS,
in order to encourage and recognize outstanding achievements in
environmental journalism.
Some of the previous winners include, Mukul Sharma ­ India, Alex Pal
­Philippines,
Abu Taher Khokon ­ Bangladesh, Joe Kanekane ­ Papua New Guina, Zamira
Loebis -Indonesia
and Tan Cheng Li of Malaysia.To find out more about the 18th World
Congress of Environmental
Journalists or APFEJ different activities it has been involved into
for more than twenty years,
please visit http://www.environmentaljournalists.org