Lincoln Institute Presents Fourth Annual Award for Rigorous Land Policy Journalism in Latin America

In August 1985, residents of Jaguaribara, a small community in the Brazilian state of Ceará, received word that the government intended to drown their town.

Planned construction of the massive Castanhão dam and reservoir nearby would flood the town, and the entire community would have to be relocated and rebuilt 50 kilometers (31 miles) away. After years of delay and ongoing resistance, the official work order was signed in 1995; by 2001, residents had to say wrenching goodbyes to the place they had lived, loved, and grown up in, and move to a brand-new, planned community built on land donated by nearby municipalities.

In a multipart series for Jornal Diário do Nordeste called “Castanhão: 30 Years,” journalist Thatiany do Nascimento Pereira traced the many stories of heartache, community activism, and collective rebuilding that emerged from such a complex, large-scale land use decision. Homes, memories, and public landmarks were left behind in the move—yet so was much of the town’s historic economic segregation, given the blank slate of a new planned community.

The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy honored do Nascimento Pereira in November with the top prize in its 2025 Lincoln Award (Premio Lincoln) for Journalism on Urban Policy, Sustainable Development, and Climate Change, at COLPIN 2025—the Latin American Conference for Investigative Journalism. The 16th annual COLPIN, held in Buenos Aires, marked the fourth year the Lincoln Award has been offered as part of the conference.

Second prize went to a pair of Nicaraguan researchers for “The ‘Ghost Houses’ of the Ortega-Murillo’s Flagship Housing Program,” which documented unmet promises and missing millions from the government’s housing plan. The Nicaraguan journalists are now living in exile in Costa Rica due to their work highlighting the political regime’s corrupt practices.

Third prize was awarded to Mary Triny Zea Cornejo for her story “Relocation of a Population Displaced by Rising Sea Levels Threatens an Important Protected Area,” which explored Panama’s mass relocation of 300 families from Cartí Sugdup Island. The three top winners participated in a panel discussion at COLPIN; five more projects received honorable mentions.

Among the 266 entries—which came from 19 countries, across a wide variety of media, including video and interactive data visualizations—climate change and water management were consistent themes, says Laura Mullahy, senior program manager at the Lincoln Institute.

Climate change, in particular, has emerged as “a transversal theme, associated with mining, extreme weather events such as hurricanes, heat waves, and floods, and water crises that affect cities and regions,” Mullahy says. “Many of the articles link land conservation and water management with infrastructure megaprojects, tourism, and other means of transformation of protected areas.”

She’s also noticed an increase in articles that view urban planning efforts through the lens of segregation, housing, or informal settlements—where the focus is not on the practice itself, but on effects “such as eviction, rising land and housing costs, and inequality in access to services.”

Architect Miguel Jurado has served on the Lincoln Award selection committee since the outset, reviewing hundreds of contest entries each year, and says the depth of the submitted works has matured in that time. “From the initial emphasis on conservation and climate change, the focus has shifted to narratives that connect climate, territory, inequality, and economic structures,” he says.

With its focus on land use and how cities function, the Lincoln Award “has opened new thematic avenues for investigative journalism in the region,” says Adriana León, of the Lima, Peru–based IPYS (Instituto Prensa y Sociedad), which organizes COLPIN. “For IPYS and COLPIN, the Lincoln Award is an essential contribution to the goal of promoting quality journalism.”

Below, find the winners of the 2025 Lincoln Award for Journalism on Urban Policy, Sustainable Development, and Climate Change, along with links to their work. (See the 2024 winners here.)

2025 Premio Lincoln Winners

First Prize: Thatiany do Nascimento Pereira, Brazil, for the series “Castanhão: 30 Years Since the Construction Began,” published in Jornal Diário do Nordeste.

The multipart narrative reflects on how the construction of Brazil’s largest dam, begun three decades ago, forever transformed the city of Jaguaribara in the northeastern state of Ceará, completely flooding the original location. Combining memories, old photographs, and the testimonials of those who lived through this displacement, the series explores the social, political, and cultural tensions arising from the project, revealing the pain of loss but also the ways in which the community has resisted and rebuilt its identity despite displacement.

Second Prize: Equipo Divergentes and Connectas, Nicaragua, for “The ‘Ghost Houses’ of the Ortega-Murillo’s Flagship Housing Program.”

The Nicaraguan government promised to build 50,000 homes by 2026, but now reports only 6,000 delivered nationwide. Using satellite imagery, Nicaraguan researchers demonstrated that Managua’s housing plan was only 27 percent completed, despite official claims that the total investment had been fully disbursed. That leaves a deficit of $30 million and more than 4,000 homes unbuilt in the two planned developments. The investigation also revealed that financing from the Production Development Bank (BFP) and private banks carries interest rates close to 10 percent annually, meaning that over 25 years, a family will end up paying more than double the value of the house. All of this, occurring amid three- to four-year delays in delivery, has benefited companies affiliated with the political regime.

Third Prize: Mary Triny Zea Cornejo, Panama, for “Relocation of a Population Displaced by Rising Sea Levels Threatens an Important Protected Area,” published by Mongabay Latam.

Panama carried out the first mass relocation due to rising sea levels in Latin America, moving 300 families from Cartí Sugdup Island, the most populated island in the indigenous Guna Yala archipelago, to the mainland. However, the new settlement affects 11 hectares (27 acres) of forest within the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor, one of the country’s most important protected areas. This article revealed that the Environmental Impact Study omitted the long-term effects on biodiversity and the threat to the Guna people’s cultural identity. Although the government presents the relocation as a “flagship project for climate change adaptation,” experts warn that its implementation was flawed and could exacerbate environmental degradation.

Honorable Mention 1: Jorge Dett, Peru, for “Social Housing: Undercover Business?” for Latina Televisión.

Districts in the Peruvian capital of Lima such as San Isidro, Surco, and Miraflores, known for their high real estate prices, now feature buildings with units as small as 40 square meters, a result of the implementation of a new Social Interest Housing Law. This legislation allows construction in previously restricted areas, which has led to a disproportionate and unregulated increase in building construction and densification due to unclear and sometimes contradictory regulations.

Honorable Mention 2: María Luzdary Ayala, María Gabriela Ensinck, María Belén Galeano, Eirinet Gómez, Sergio Rincón, Judith Scheyer, Flávia Schiochet, Kennia Velázquez, Ahiana Figueroa, Maximiliano Manzoni, Juan David Olmos y Suhelis Tejero, CONNECTAS, PopLab (México), EcoGuia (Colombia), O Joio e o Trigo (Brasil), Argentina + Sustentable (Argentina), Consenso (Paraguay) and TalCual (Venezuela), for “Water for Ultra-Processed Foods: A Bad Deal for Latin America.”

This collaborative report reveals excesses, abuses, and inequities in the volume of water granted via concession to ultra-processed food industries in Latin America’s four largest economies. The investigation found that weak regulations, inadequate controls, and corporate lobbying combine to facilitate the excessive consumption of water, often at very low prices, in areas already experiencing severe water scarcity. This situation exacerbates the problem of water inequality for vulnerable communities.

Honorable Mention 3: Judith Herrera Cabello, Chile, for “Climate Change: How Could the Inter-American Court of Human Rights Influence the Policies Adopted by National Governments?” published by Revista Hiperlatidos, Chile.

This report examines the advisory opinion requested by Chile and Colombia from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) regarding the responsibilities of national governments in addressing climate change and its impact on their territories and citizens. The article focuses on two main topics: the process before the IACHR and its potential effects on the public policies of the countries involved; and the impacts of climate change in Chile, such as drought, wildfires, and rising temperatures.

Honorable Mention 4: Kenneth Andrei Pérez and Arturo Contreras Camero, Mexico, for “Where Are We Going to Live?” for Capital 21.

Through personal experiences and expert analysis, this six-episode video series explores the phenomena that have driven up housing prices in Mexico City in recent years. The series seeks to explain, from both an international and national perspective, how the housing crisis is being experienced in this city, as well as possible solutions or alternatives that exist to address it.

Honorable Mention 5: Neil Marks, Guyana, for “Billions in Carbon Revenues Helping Amerindian Communities with Economic, Social, Cultural Advancement,” published by Newsroom Guyana.

Guyana earns revenue for preserving its rainforest, which blankets over 85 percent of the country, and in a single year was able to distribute more than $3.8 billion in carbon credit funds to 232 Indigenous communities as part of its Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS 2030).  This report details how the Indigenous village of River’s View rebuilt its dock and cultural spaces through the program. While some organizations have expressed concerns about transparency and genuine participation in the management of these resources, under the principle of free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC), the communities decide themselves how to invest the funds in infrastructure, education, or other areas of economic or cultural advancement.

Jon Gorey is a staff writer at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.

Lead image: The reservoir created by Brazil’s Castanhão dam, whose construction 30 years ago forced an entire community to relocate. A recent series exploring that displacement won first prize in the annual Lincoln Award for land policy journalism in Latin America. Credit: Viktor Braga via Flickr CC.