Open Call: Human-Centred Conservation Storytelling Grant 2026

The Human-Centred Conservation Storytelling Grant supports experienced storytellers producing rigorous, publishable work that explores conservation as it is lived.

In many public narratives, conservation is reduced to sentimentality or simplified success stories. This grant responds to the need for deeper reporting grounded in social, political, and economic realities across African contexts. It commissions storytellers who already operate at professional editorial standards and who are capable of producing work ready for publication or broadcast through established media platforms.

What the grant supports

Projects must approach conservation through a human-centred lens, recognising that conservation outcomes are shaped not only by ecology, but by people: their rights, livelihoods, governance systems, knowledge, and lived realities.

Stories may examine:

• Where human-centred approaches strengthen conservation outcomes

• Where their absence undermines progress

• The tensions, trade-offs, and contradictions between policy and lived experience

Both hopeful and critical perspectives are welcome; what matters is depth, complexity, and serious reporting.

Applicants may apply under one of three tiers:

• Up to USD 5,000

• Up to USD 8,000

• Up to USD 12,000

Budgets are assessed for realism and proportionality rather than scale.

Application process

Applicants submit:

• A short story pitch

• Examples of previously published work

• Intended publication or broadcast pathway

• A summary budget

Applications are reviewed competitively based on editorial quality, alignment with human-centred conservation principles, professional experience, and feasibility.

Applications are to be submitted before 8 March 2026.

For more information, visit the Jamma Conversation & Communities website.