Vote for #COFO23 #ChampionTrees photo contest winner
20 July 2016
Six photos are competing on FAO’s Facebook page in a public vote for the winner of the #COFO23 #ChampionTrees photo contest. Launched in the run-up to the 23rd session of the Committee on Forestry (COFO 23) taking place at FAO headquarters in Rome this week, the contest challenged people to send in photos of extraordinary trees they knew. The aim of the contest was to raise awareness about the fact that many trees are under pressure from changes in the uses of land, or from the effects of climate change such as increased weather events, forest fires and pests.
Trees photographed could be growing on their own in an unusual place, helped by humans to grow in a difficult situation, struggling to survive deforestation and the effects of climate change – or simply be a champion tree in the photographer’s eyes.
We received over 630 photos from 97 countries for the contest. Photographers gave a huge variety of reasons why the trees featured in their photos are special, from providing food, fodder, fuel and shade or a home to wildlife, to beauty. In some cases, photographers sent in photos of seemingly ordinary trees with extraordinary personal stories.
Six finalists were chosen from a longlist of 30 photos by a jury comprising the leaders of the Regional Forest Communicators Networks. The winner of the contest will come to FAO headquarters in Rome for the celebrations for the International Day of Forests 2017.
The shortlist is:
Araucaria el árbol espíritu by César Antonio Jopia Quiñones (Chile)
Árbol del Amor by Sergio Paladino (Brazil)
Rest by Kuntal Kumar Roy (India)
Shelter by Sudipto Das (India)
Tree in Ta Prohm Temple by Sao Chanelite (Cambodia)
Walls Strangled by Warka Trees by Caroline de Villiers (Ethiopia)
Trees photographed could be growing on their own in an unusual place, helped by humans to grow in a difficult situation, struggling to survive deforestation and the effects of climate change – or simply be a champion tree in the photographer’s eyes.