Since 2019 the BBVA foundation has established an award for the recognition of virtuous experience in the field of environmental communication, known as the Biophilia Award for Environmental Communication. The aim is to acknowledge the importance of the action of a series of professionals and organizations whose work fosters the understanding and the awareness of environmental and ecological issues. Most importantly, the foundation encourages those projects that share a light on new perspectives coming from any discipline. In this sense, multidisciplinary becomes a strength, a feature that enables to discover new entry points and develop new reflections around rather urgent matters. Moreover, the prizes recognize the importance of operating with a multimedia approach, and the capacity to engage with a global public.
The fifth edition of the awards has been won by the digital media organization Mongabay. According to the committee, the nonprofit organization has been chosen for its collaborative work that, engaging with a broad network of around 800 correspondents in over 70 countries, has been able to develop environmental communication projects with outstanding results. Mongabay, founded in 1999 thanks to Rhett A. Butler’s passion for tropical forests, is now a prominent voice in environmental communication, with a particular attention for the Global South perspective.
The past editions were won by journalists such as Marlowe Hoods for the third edition back in 2021, or Elizabeth Kolbert for the fourth edition in 2022. The other collective project to be awarded has been The Guardian, in 2020, for its “transformative impact to a global community”.