Dean's Message
Mother Africa is in crisis. Poachers have decimated its once-formidable herds of elephants, lions and rhinos. Rainforests are being burnt into charcoal. Coral reefs are blasted by dynamite fishing. The basic building block of civilization and a healthy world — biodiversity — is under existential threat.
Mother Africa is in crisis. Poachers have decimated its once-formidable herds of elephants, lions and rhinos. Rainforests are being burnt into charcoal. Coral reefs are blasted by dynamite fishing. The basic building block of civilization and a healthy world — biodiversity — is under existential threat.
Nature needs a voice. One that’s daring, uninterrupted and loud. Our mission supports this by giving a voice to the truly voiceless — the world’s largest population of mega-flora and fauna and the people living among them. The Aga Khan University Graduate School of Media and Communications Environmental Reporting Program reflects the new optimism of an emerging environmental consciousness — and activism — in Kenya and beyond.
Working with media houses and independent filmmakers across the region, our distinguished global faculty of correspondents, editors and filmmakers train them to research and produce compelling in-depth reports on Africa’s most urgent environmental crises at the highest international standards, on a par with the best of BBC or CNN. These are stories of immense human drama set amid profound climate and environmental change.
Giving Nature a Voice has created a syndicated series of 52 documentaries watched by millions of viewers weekly via prime-time broadcasts on NTV, East Africa’s largest television network.
The goal: to teach East Africa’s youngest generations to value and protect their most valuable inheritance and the stunning beauty of our common African home.
The impact of the documentaries cannot be overstated. Our films have influenced local and national policy. A film on Lake Tanganyika led to the passing of legislation in Burundi’s parliament. Other films have received awards and recognition locally and internationally.
We aim to develop a five-year program that will continue to produce life-changing environmental documentaries. Discussions have begun with broadcasters to take our message Africa-wide. The documentaries will soon be broadcast in the UK and on Yanga, a SKY channel aimed at the African diaspora.
All this has been made possible by the generous support of the Beaty family in Vancouver, Canada – Ross, Trisha and Carolynn of the Sitka Foundation.
Join us in helping East Africa, and the world, to better understand the critical environmental issues facing us, before it’s too late.
Professor Nancy Booker
Graduate School of Media & Communications
