Teagasc launches Forestry Photo Competition

To help mark today as SPAR National Tree Day, the Teagasc Forestry Development Department, in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, is delighted to launch a forest photo competition running over October and November 2021.

‘Celebrating Our Forests and Wood Use’ is a two-themed competition that will highlight both the beauty of our forests and the multiple uses and applications of wood in our lives. It provides a great opportunity for budding (non-professional) photographers and photo enthusiasts to get snapping while being in with a chance to win exciting prizes.

Forests provide us with wonderful settings to enjoy nature, particularly in the autumn. We often take for granted the huge importance of wood as a natural resource, providing us with an array of applications. Wood is used to create spectacular building components, ornate furniture, musical instruments, toys and sports equipment, utensils, artistic creations to name but a few.

Commencing from today, Thursday, 7 October, the ‘Celebrating Our Forests and Wood Use’ competition will focus on two consecutive forest themes featured over subsequent weeks. At the end of each theme period, the winner for that theme will be chosen and is guaranteed a prize of €300 in vouchers with €100 in vouchers for two selected runners up. Each theme winner will also go forward to a Grand Final on December 7, when the overall competition winner will be in line for a further €500 in vouchers.

Have you a favourite autumnal forest view or attraction in your local area? To kick off the competition, the first theme, ‘Our forests in autumn’, will run from October 7 to October 28 (Table 1). Suitable digital forest landscape images can be submitted to a dedicated email address up to 5pm on the October 28 deadline. The current autumnal colours on the trees may provide an ideal opportunity to capture that view.

Table 1: Eligible competition entry dates/times for each of the two themes

The competition will feature the second theme ‘The many uses of wood’ between October 29 and November 18. Please note that only photos received within these dates and times for each theme (Table 1) can be considered eligible.

Speaking at the launch of the Teagasc/DAFM ‘Celebrating our Forests and Wood Use’ competition, Dr Nuala Ni Fhlatharta, Head of the Teagasc Forestry Development Department said: ’We are very pleased to organise this initiative for a second successive year, particularly appropriate on National Tree Day. Our competition will allow the public to submit good quality and attractive digital images that capture our forests in their autumnal splendour as well as the vast range of wood uses we all enjoy.  We also hope to showcase a range of the submitted photos that reflect these two themes on our website as the competition progresses’.

Individual participants may submit one photo separately for each of the two forestry competition themes. Submission is by email (only) to the dedicated email address forestphotos@teagasc.ie. Landscape orientation is strongly preferred. Participants are asked to log onto the forestry section of the Teagasc website www.teagasc.ie/forestphotos21 and familiarise themselves with the competition terms and conditions as well as the entry requirements in advance of photograph submission. Teagasc very much looks forward to viewing all photos submitted.