LatAm SoJo Fund Fellowship story wins Silvia Galvis Journalism Award in Colombia

We’re in celebration mode at the Latin American Solutions Journalism Fund: journalist José Ignacio Estupiñán Martínez was awarded the prestigious Silvia Galvis Journalism Prize 2026 in Colombia for an in-depth story he created with a grant from the Fund as part of our “Natural Intelligence” edition.

José Ignacio received the award in the Regional Award category for his longform piece “Take care of the forest so we don’t kill for its skins,” published jointly by El Colectivo 506, Baudó Public Agency, and Voices That Transcend. The story shows how former caimán hunters have become the species’ primary protectors in Bahía Cispatá after its near-extinction in the area.

The Colombian journalist, co-founder of the digital media outlet Cuatro Palabras, proposed this topic in a regional call for proposals launched by the LatAm SoJo Fund in 2025 thanks to the support of the Earth Journalism Network and its Biodiversity Initiative for Media. We selected José Ignacio for our cohort along with 10 other journalists from Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru to investigate nature-based responses to the biodiversity loss crisis in Latin America.

We created a series of trainings for the cohort, provided one-on-one solutions journalism mentorship to each journalist from our co-founders, and supported the group through the process of researching, writing, and editing their pieces. The goal: multimedia projects that show how caring for ecosystems can generate improvements for both human and natural well-being.

The cohort reports were co-published by El Colectivo 506 and partner media identified by each participant during the month of November 2025.

“Those of us who practice journalism far from major cities know what it means to get to the story, investigate it for months, and continue believing that it’s important to show what’s happening in rural areas,” José Ignacio said in his acceptance speech. “In this case, my story begins in Cispatá Bay, but it belongs above all to the people who allowed us into their memories. To those who remember when the caimán was hunted for its skin. To those who have seen the mangroves transformed and the communities that today demonstrate that conserving a territory can also be a dignified way to live off it.”

The political scientist, journalist and writer Silvia Galvis Ramírez, born in 1945, was “one of the pioneers of investigative journalism in Colombia,” the Award website explains.

The award that bears her name was created in 2017 by the Autonomous University of Bucaramanga (UNAB) to “promote independent and critical journalism” and “encourage responsible, structured and in-depth journalism practice.”

“Silvia Galvis wrote to challenge those in power and to put into words what others prefer to keep silent,” said Juan Camilo Montoya Bozzi, rector of UNAB, at this year’s awards ceremony. “Remembering her every year has a specific purpose: to uphold the kind of journalism she practiced—journalism that investigates, compares facts, questions the official narrative, and prioritizes the public interest, even at a high cost.”

José Ignacio placed his report in the context of what is happening in his country, using words that also apply to many other countries in the region.

“We know that Colombia is now beginning a new administration after a campaign marked by polarization and attacks against journalists. It is at moments like these that we must remember why we do this work,” he said. “Journalism must continue to be a safe space for us to connect around the facts; to listen to those who think differently than we do; and to find ourselves in the stories of others.”

We thank UNAB and the Silvia Galvis Journalism Prize 2026 for recognizing a journalist whose rigorous and creative solutions story introduced us to Cispata Bay—and to the people who lead its conservation.

Congratulations, José Ignacio!