
Articles by Emma Black
Emma Black is a dedicated, award winning Sierra Leonean journalist. She has worked for over seven years in the media industry as a radio producer and presenter and newspaper reporter. Emma is an active member of Women in the Media Sierra Leone (WIMSL) and the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ). She’s committed to improving conditions for women journalists and the industry. She has written about education issues, the environment, women and children, gender, health, crime, courts and mining. Emma is a “bulldog researcher” and enjoys talking to those whose stories are seldom told.
In 2021, Emma became a Fellow of International Women Media Foundation (IWMF) and received training on COVID-19 vaccines. Emma produced three international stories on vaccines, cold chains, side effects and data in Sierra Leone.
Emma became a Fellow of the Media and Information Bureau (MIB) in 2019 and wrote stories on artisanal gold mining, diamond diggers and women in mines. With MIB, Emma also researched and wrote stories from the justice sector and how women have been discriminated against within the courts.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Emma wrote stories for Internews on how women have been affected by the virus, the economic impact of COVID-19 on the hospitality industry and w
In November 2010, Emma received a “Journalists for Human Rights” Fellowship to research and write a feature story on a critical education topic. The issue of “ghost students” and school corruption was exposed. The story appeared in African Champion newspaper and won an Independent Media Commission Award in February 2011.
Emma is dedicated to self-improvement and takes advantage of all educational opportunities including an eight-week training session offered by Journalists for Human Rights and the Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone. She continues to improve her writing and reporting through scholarships and fellowship opportunities.

Special series
Forest Trackers
- In Brazil’s Amazon, a clandestine road threatens a pristine reserve
- ‘We just want to be left in peace’: In Brazil’s Amazon, soy ambitions loom over Indigenous land
- Deforestation continues in Kenya’s largest water capturing forest, satellites show
- Drug trafficking imperils national park and Indigenous reserves in the Peruvian Amazon

Oceans
- In reversal, Mexico calls for moratorium on international deep-sea mining
- Congo’s waters are hotspot for endangered sharks & rays, reveals data from artisanal fishers
- Report shines partial light on worst labor offenders in opaque fishing industry
- Jamaica battles relentless plastic pollution in quest to restore mangroves

Amazon Conservation
- The coveted legacy of the ‘Man of the Hole’ and his cultivated Amazon forest
- End of impunity for Indigenous killings in sight for Brazil’s Guajajara
- Study links pesticides to child cancer deaths in Brazilian Amazon & Cerrado
- Amazon drought: Much damage still to come (commentary)

Land rights and extractives
- Paradise lost? Brazil’s biggest bauxite mining firm denies riverine rights
- The coveted legacy of the ‘Man of the Hole’ and his cultivated Amazon forest
- Australia crackdown on climate protesters grows amid fight against gas project
- Study: Despite armed conflicts, Indigenous lands have better environment quality

Endangered Environmentalists
- Vietnamese environmentalist sentenced to 3 years in prison for tax evasion
- Son of slain Quilombola leader will still strive for community’s rights
- Video: Five Tembé Indigenous activists shot in Amazonian ‘palm oil war’
- Indigenous activists demand justice after 5 shot in Amazonian ‘palm oil war’

Indonesia's Forest Guardians
- In Borneo, the ‘Power of Mama’ fight Indonesia’s wildfires with all-woman crew
- Pioneer agroforester Ermi, 73, rolls back the years in Indonesia’s Gorontalo
- After 20 years and thousands of trees planted, Kalimantan’s veteran forester persists
- Aziil Anwar, Indonesian coral-based mangrove grower, dies at 64

Conservation Effectiveness
- Forest restoration to boost biomass doesn’t have to sacrifice tree diversity
- How scientists and a community are bringing a Bornean river corridor back to life
- Forest restoration can fare better with human helping hand, study shows
- From rat-ridden to reserve, Redonda is an island restoration role model

Southeast Asian infrastructure
- Indonesia’s new capital ‘won’t sacrifice the environment’: Q&A with Nusantara’s Myrna Asnawati Safitri
- Small farmers in limbo as Cambodia wavers on Tonle Sap conservation rules
- To build its ‘green’ capital city, Indonesia runs a road through a biodiverse forest
- Robust river governance key to restoring Mekong River vitality in face of dams
