Whether it’s seeing a local resident break down in tears, being hassled by the police, or being mysteriously followed for miles while driving around site boundaries – some of the most intense experiences I’ve had as a journalist have been while covering environmental activism.

On every visit, I am shocked and impressed by the commitment of local people standing up to companies that want to use and abuse their communities for corporate gain. I am also shocked that I’m often the first journalist these people have spoken to.

DeSmog UK has reported from the frontlines of some of the UK’s most significant fossil fuel resistances. It has been an absolute privilege to have played a small part in telling so many important stories. But we need your help to continue.

We want to do more. So much more. But it all costs money.Each feature costs about £1,000 to produce. That’s why we’re trying to crowdfund £20,000, so we can visit 20 environmental protests in 2019.

Support DeSmog UK today! Donate to our crowdfunding campaign through Indiegogo

The UK has an amazingly dynamic environmental activism scene. But the number of environmental journalists that actually get out from behind their desks to go and meet these people is dwindling.

DeSmog UK has stepped into this breach. But we need your support if we’re going to continue.

Last week, three environmental activists became the first people to be sent to jail for protesting against fracking. Their crime? Boarding some lorries heading for a nearby frack pad in Lancashire.

How many mainstream journalists do you think were there that day? None. Not one.

But DeSmog UK was – documenting a now infamous moment in the history of UK environmental activism.

Read DeSmog UK‘s coverage of environmental activism:

• How 25 Metres of Country Road Became England’s Fracking Frontline
• ‘Coal is our Heritage, not our Future’: Inside the Community Protecting Pont Valley from Banks Mining
• From the Valleys to the Beaches, New Coal Mines Bring Fear not Hope
• Troubled History Resonates as Local Campaigners Resist Northern Ireland’s Gold Rush Over Cyanide Fears

Every £1,000 you give means one more community gets their voice heard, where politicians and the mainstream media have abandoned them.

Our reporters are not activists, but they understand activism. We seek out the real story of local opposition to the fossil fuel and mining industries – stories that get lost in mainstream media coverage that privileges corporate voices.

DeSmog UK wants to continue giving environmental activists the platform they deserve. But to do so, we desperately need your help.

We don’t take corporate sponsorship, and we’re determined to keep our content free. So please, give what you can – to keep DeSmog UK telling the stories of the UK’s environmental defenders.