Minister Pippa Hackett announces overall winner of Teagasc Forest Photo Competition 2021
The overall winner of the 2021 Teagasc forest photo competition was announced by the Minister of State for Land Use and Biodiversity, Senator Pippa Hackett, today, Tuesday, 7 December. The worthy winner of the “Celebrating Our Forest and Wood Use” competition is Martin Maher from County Laois with his photo “Walking into Autumn”. This photograph, highlights Corrig Wood, County Laois. As the overall competition winner, Martin receives a voucher valued at €500, to add to his earlier award of €300.
Congratulating, the competition winner, Minister Hackett said: ‘Martin’s photograph is a stunning portrayal of a stunning woodland. I know Corrig Wood well. With my family I have enjoyed many walks and picnics there, and we have run through the wood many time as well, so I have a great sense of what an amenity it is for the people of Laois and indeed for those from other counties too.
Minister Hackett continued: ‘It’s important to recognise the benefits of forests beyond supplying a vital timber resource and Martin’s image is of such an inviting scene, it certainly captures a sense of what trees can do for our landscape, our recreation and our wellbeing. So I commend Teagasc for organising the competition and my Department for supporting it, and for working hard to promote the many positive aspects of trees and forests.’
Commenting on the conclusion of the competition, Tom Houlihan, Forestry Specialist with the Teagasc Forestry Development Department said: ‘Teagasc is again delighted to have hosted this forest photo competition in 2021, which received hundreds of wonderful images from all age groups and from enthusiastic participants across the country. Congratulations to Martin and other competition prize recipients. The two categories were selected to highlight the many important forest benefits and highlight the importance of wood as a sustainable material in our everyday lives.’
Teagasc Forestry Liaison Officer, Fergus Price, who co-ordinated the initiative said: ‘Teagasc sincerely thanks all participants who submitted such a range of high quality images for each of the two categories in this competition. I would also like to thank the competition judging panel who had such a challenging task in selecting the winning images. Based on the success of this initiative, Teagasc plan to continue this competition in 2022 and incorporate new themes and further competition categories’.
The winning photos from the Teagasc photo competition will shortly be available to view on the Teagasc website at www.teagasc.ie/forestphotos21. This competition was coordinated by Teagasc with support from the Forestry Division of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM). Once again, Teagasc sincerely thanks all competition participants.