Your Shutter Might Only Be Open For a Few Seconds But Your Pictures Could Help Protect Rainforests Forever
Guest Post by: Kristin Canning, Partnership Director at Rainforest Rescue
Rainforest Rescue is a DGR-registered not-for-profit and has been protecting and restoring rainforests in Australia and internationally since 1999. Our vision is to Protect Rainforests Forever. Our mission is to Rescue vulnerable rainforests by buying threatened properties; Restore damaged & fragmented habitat through reforestation; Conserve the biodiversity & cultural heritage of Rainforest; and Learn from the forest, sharing & raising awareness.
For many decades, the globally significant yet unprotected lowland Daintree rainforest has suffered significant land clearing and degradation from development. Continuously evolving for as many as 180 million years, the Daintree is the most ancient rainforest world-wide by far. It must be protected, forever. It is an extremely unique, biodiverse wildlife haven, home to species found nowhere else on the planet except, sometimes, in fossil records. From threatened cassowaries to primitive flowering plants, the Daintree is an irreplaceable conservation refuge with 395 endemic species listed as either rare or threatened.
We have rescued 39 Daintree properties and there are some 150 more properties that we must buy back, restore and protect by 2050. Since inception, Rainforest Rescue has planted 325,000+ trees to restore damaged rainforests.
The 2022 Rainforest Rescue’s Canopy Awards
In partnership with two of Australia’s world-renowned photographers – Darren Jew and Jasmine Carey, and the four Major Sponsors of f-stop, Silky Oaks Lodge, Spell, and Will & Bear, Rainforest Rescue have created the Rainforest Rescue Canopy Awards to shine the light on the need to protect rainforests worldwide. The Canopy Awards offers fabulous prizes that will enhance and promote the art of rainforest photography, while helping to raise awareness of the nature and culture of rainforests, and to encourage their protection! All ages can enter the 2022 Canopy Awards and there is a People’s Choice Award, where the public will be able to vote for a winner from the short-listed entries.
Participants can submit their photos in one or all of the following categories:
- Habitats – Landscapes & scenes taken in or of Rainforest
- Characters – Wildlife taken in, or on the margins of Rainforest
- Reportage – Threats, activism, and actions relating to Rainforest
- Hidden Gems – Plants, details, and abstractions taken in, or of Rainforest
Benefits of Entry:
- Every Entry Protects 1 square meter of Rainforest Forever
- Great Prizes
- Grand Prize: The Winner of the Grand Prize will be off on a fabulous Daintree adventure valued at over $7,000. This incredible prize is thanks to Silky Oaks Lodge, Spell, Walkabout Cultural Adventures, and Solar Whisper.
- Category Winners: Junior and Open Winners will be announced for each of the four categories: Habitats, Characters, Reportage, and Hidden Gems. The winners will receive the latest photography bag and a cash prize thanks to f-stop and Will + Bear.
- People’s Choice Vote: The people will have spoken when the winner of the People’s Choice Vote is announced! The winner will receive a prize pack thanks to Magic of I, Naturally Driven, Patagonia, Wandering Folk, and Will + Bear.
- Chance to feature on your own Biopak Art Series Cup
- Junior and Open Classes
- Review of every entry and feedback via Report Card
The competition will be judged by Steve Parrish OAM, Wayne Quilliam, Juergen & Stella Freund, Madeleine Faught, and Dr. Robert Kooyman (judges bios available here) who will score photos in six scoring criteria:
- Impact and Mood
- Technique
- Composition
- Subject
- Story-telling
- Innovation & Originality
As Rainforest Rescue CEO, Branden Barber, said recently:
“The international Rainforest Rescue Canopy Awards creates a platform to promote the beauty and fragility of the Daintree Rainforest and its unique ecology and biodiversity. Inviting photographers to contribute their perspectives provides a richer tapestry upon which to focus our intentions for both the Daintree’s forever protection, as well as the protection of rainforests and rainforest creatures all over the world.’’ Branden Barber, Rainforest Rescue CEO.
Takeaways:
- Entries are open to ANY pictures of rainforests from ANYWHERE on the planet, taken at any point in time. Entries close 31st March 2022.
- Every entry submitted protects 1 square metre of rainforest forever!
- Open to ALL ages.
For more information and to submit entries visit canopyawards.org
