Meet Farayi Machamire from Zimbabwe, a sports enthusiast turned environmental journalist.

1. Please tell us your name and the country where you come from. 

My name is Farayi Machamire from Zimbabwe.

2. What motivated you to become a journalist? 

I started my career in sports, but near the end of high school, I realized I was better at writing. Since then, I have never looked back.

3. What made you decide to specialise in environmental reporting? 

Although environmental reporting is essential to human survival, it is underrepresented and underreported.

4. What role can the media play in reducing wildlife crime and biodiversity loss and mitigating climate change? 

Environmental health is essential for life. The media is responsible for drawing attention to wildlife crime, biodiversity loss, and initiatives to help mitigate climate change. The media can assist decision-makers by providing accurate coverage of these issues. Consequently, this will result in a community that is better informed, which will benefit our environment.

5. What is the most exciting part of being an environmental reporter?

I enjoy travelling and learning about various cultures. I also like how individuals in various situations view the world differently. Some see it as a way to make money, while others regard it as a means of surviving. Ultimately, I get to put myself in the shoes of environmental players and view the world from their perspectives as a journalist.

6. What’s the most pressing environmental problem in your region? 

It would be unfair to single out the one environmental problem that is most destructive. Most issues are interconnected. In southern Africa, we deal with serious environmental issues like deforestation, biodiversity loss, and acute climate change vulnerability.

7. What challenges did you encounter as a conservation journalist? 

Access to information is one of the challenges I face as a conservation journalist. Most regional institutions don’t always have the most recent facts and figures available. Another challenge is the consequences of the existing mistrust between the media and environmental players. The fact that a poor society does not give priority to resources like land, trees, plants, animals, and water supplies presents another challenge. The ability to survive is the main concern of someone who lacks fundamental necessities.

8. What kind of support have you received from the programme? 

The programme has offered guidance in several areas throughout the year. When I’ve encountered issues with various national park authorities, the programme’s representatives have stepped in to ease their worries. More significantly, it has compensated me for my work and effort and offered financial support to facilitate site visits in Zimbabwe to help with environmental and conservation issues. I couldn’t have written more than a dozen stories alone in such a short time. The group provided training programmes on environmental issues.

9. What is your favourite story that you’ve worked on? Why? 

One of my favourites is the enormous translocation of elephants in southern Zimbabwe. A 700-kilometre journey over occasionally rugged terrain brought over 400 elephants from the Savé Valley Conservancy to Sapi, Zambezi Valley, north of Zimbabwe.

10. What advice would you give to an aspiring environmental journalist? 

Study and listen. Only when you embrace a tale from the subject’s viewpoint can you truly be able to share it with the world. Although I doubt there is a narrative that has never been told before, every story a person writes reflects a particular facet of who they are, making it stand apart from the others.

11. Are you hopeful for the future? Why? 

Without hope, there would be no point in us continuing to exist. In my brief but eventful year in this programme, I have interacted with more people working to improve our conservation and environment than the select few working to profit from perishable products, which gives me hope for the future.