In a region where independent environmental journalism is often unwelcome, one Mongabay journalist has made a career of tackling often inconvenient truths while accepting personal risks as a necessary part of the work. Gerald “Gerry” Flynn has been based in Southeast Asia since 2017, reporting largely from Cambodia on the intersection of human rights, ecosystems and natural resource governance. Flynn joined Mongabay as a features writer in 2023, following a Rainforest Investigations Network Fellowship with the Pulitzer Center from 2022 to 2023, during which he investigated illegal logging networks across Cambodia, with a focus on the Cardamom Mountains. Upon joining the team, he continued to investigate illegal logging, fishing, mining and land grabs. “These stories are what drew me to environmental journalism,” he says. “Getting on the ground, holding the powerful accountable, and giving voices to those who put their own lives and liberty on the line to protect their natural resources.” However, in January 2025, Flynn was denied entry and banned from Cambodia, a move seemingly in retaliation for his reporting — a setback that only cemented his confidence in evidence-based reporting as fundamental for revealing infractions against nature in autocratic societies. “The violence of the response to environmental reporting in authoritarian jurisdictions only serves to highlight the importance and value of dragging environmental crimes out of the shadows and into the cold, harsh light of public scrutiny,” he says. An investigation into a senior Cambodian official’s illegal logging operation meant taking to the waters of the Sekong River…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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