The winning piece, "The Maltese Falcon Poachers: How European Hunters Endanger Egypt's Birds", was reported by Mahmoud Elsobky and published by The New Arab. The investigation traces how organised hunting networks operating across borders are decimating migratory bird populations - an environmental crime that remains largely invisible to policymakers and the public alike.
The SEJ Awards for Reporting on the Environment, named after the late Australian journalist Kevin Carmody, are among the most prestigious distinctions in environmental journalism in the United States.
The investigation was produced with editorial guidance from Wael El-Sayegh and Andrea Glioti, and research and fact-checking by Anas Ambri. It was co-published by Mongabay, The Shift News, and BRIDGES Investigations.
Journalismfund Europe, the Brussels-based non-profit that funds cross-border investigative journalism across Europe and beyond, supported the project through its grant programme.
The award underscores the growing international reach of Journalismfund-funded projects and the relevance of cross-border environmental reporting at a time when wildlife crime is increasingly recognised as a serious transnational issue.
