The Media Law Forum, with support from UNESCO, held a two-day residential national capacity-building workshop in Kandy on 10–11 January 2026, aimed at strengthening legal protection and improving access to justice for environmental journalists in Sri Lanka.
The programme was organised amid growing concern over the increasing legal, ethical, and safety risks faced by journalists reporting on environmental degradation, land disputes, wildlife crime, and development-related conflicts. Participants examined how legal pressure, digital threats, and physical intimidation are affecting environmental reporting, while reaffirming the essential role of independent media in promoting environmental accountability, transparency, and public-interest advocacy.
Environmental journalists and legal professionals from across the country attended the workshop, creating a collaborative national platform to discuss emerging risks, professional responsibilities, and coordinated response mechanisms in complex and sensitive reporting environments. The programme combined expert-led discussions, practical exercises, group work, and panel sessions designed to strengthen cooperation between journalists and lawyers.
Key areas covered included media rights and legal safeguards, ethical standards in environmental reporting, digital and physical safety strategies, environmental governance frameworks, legal defence approaches, emergency legal response mechanisms, and the use of strategic litigation to protect journalists and uphold the public’s right to information. Joint sessions encouraged participants to develop collective approaches to address legal threats and improve rapid support systems for journalists facing harassment or litigation.
An expert panel discussion provided legal, ethical, and practical perspectives on strengthening long-term collaboration between journalists and lawyers, highlighting the need for stronger institutional networks and clearer legal pathways to defend media freedom in environmental reporting.
Conducted in Sinhala and Tamil with interpretation support, the initiative forms part of the Media Law Forum’s ongoing national efforts to safeguard media freedom, enhance access to justice, and build sustainable collaborative mechanisms between journalists and legal professionals. Organisers noted that the programme also aimed to lay the groundwork for future advocacy, legal assistance, and capacity-building activities focused on advancing environmental justice across Sri Lanka.
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https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1dxtZBRme1yAzHn0Lu7U28S3KpaZhaCYY?usp=drive_link
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