We would like you to send us your best camera shots of insect pollinators, such as bees, butterflies, moths, beetles and hoverflies feeding on flowers. The competition is split into the following age categories: Children aged 5–8, Children aged 9–11 and Children aged 12–15.
Email your photographs to lucyg@cumbriawildlifetrust.org.uk. Please include your name and age when submitting your photo.
The deadline for the competition is midnight on Sunday 4 October 2020. Prizes for first place include a year’s subscription of Cumbria Wildlife Trust’s Wildlife Watch, which includes a Wildlife Watch magazine four times a year, posters, stickers and wildlife handbook. Winners will also receive a wildlife photographer of the year book. There will be one runner up for each age category who will receive a pollinator goody bag.
When the competition closes the uploaded images will be shortlisted for the final round of judging. The judges will assess the shortlisted images when they have been sent in and the winners and runners up will be selected.
The rules
- The photo must be taken by the person entering
- We only accept digital entries
- You can enter a maximum of 4 photographs
- Include your child’s name, address and date of birth with each entry
- Keep it wild! Creatures in zoos do not count as wild pollinators and are not allowed.
Go to the following link for more information: https://www.cumbriawildlifetrust.org.uk/young-photographer-competition
Lucy Graham, Project Officer for Get Cumbria Buzzing, explains why pollinators need our help: “Across the UK, bumblebees and other pollinating insects are disappearing at an alarming rate. More than half of our bee, butterfly and moth species have declined in the past 50 years, and 30 species of bees face extinction. Over the last 75 years we’ve lost 97% of our flower rich meadows, 50% of our hedgerows, and 60% of flowering plants are in decline.”
Lucy continues: “As a photographer, your pictures will help bring pollinators to life. Pollinators maybe tiny but if you look closer with a camera there is a whole new world to explore. Anybody can take part in the competition aged 5-15 and we want you to have fun with the competition”
For more information, email lucyg@cumbriawildifetrust.org.uk.