Turning up the volume on climate change

The Amazon is a massive region that spans nine countries, contains extensive forest reserves, Indigenous reservations, national parks and is home to an impressive diversity of cultures, languages, geography and nature. Yet it is under threat. Deforestation, the expansion of agriculture, along with economies linked to drug trafficking, mining and cattle ranching imperil the land and the people who inhabit it.

To raise awareness about these issues, PWRDF began working with the World Association for Christian Communication (WACC), a fellow member of the ACT Alliance, on a project called Voices of the Amazon: Community Radio Networks Enabling Grassroots Participation in Environmental Policy. WACC will work with the Latin American Network of Radio Education (ALER), a regional organization at the forefront of the community radio movement for more than 50 years producing content about the Amazon.

In 2023 PWRDF contributed $55,000, and will do the same for 2024 and 2025. WACC is supporting local capacity building and equipment by investing EUR 30,000 in Colombia (with PWRDF partner Grupo Comunicarte), the Ecuadorean Network of Community Radio Broadcasters and its network of six radio stations in the Amazon region; and the Amazon Radio Network, a Catholic broadcasting network in Brazil.

Communication in the Amazon is hampered by distance, weather that affects electronic devices, the centrality of rivers as communication routes and insufficient infrastructure. Internet and cell phone service quality is low and cost-prohibitive for many. Print media is rarely received outside of urban areas and television is too expensive to produce. Furthermore, there are very few journalism-training opportunities in the region. The project is strengthening local communication and advocacy capacities among grassroots communities in Colombia, Ecuador and Brazil, with the long-term objective of establishing a network of grassroots communicators capable of employing radio and digital platforms to support local organizing and participation in policy-making for the protection of their ecosystems.

This network is playing a key role in informing local communities, producing content in local languages, and highlighting local knowledge and culture as vital elements central to climate policies. A local needs assessment in the first year identifed key advocacy opportunities and allies looking to avoid duplication of efforts or missed opportunities. This included looking at opportunities to engage with ecumenical and Anglican organizations throughout the project. WACC connected with the Anglican Church in Pára State, Brazil, and explored the possibility of their participation in the project by joining the broadcasting network and receiving training.