Committee fishing for wildlife photographer to capture the beauty of British nature

5 Jan 2021 01:24 PM

From water voles to highland stags, and delicate bluebells to majestic oak trees, the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) is urging members of the public to send in photos that capture British nature. The winning photo will be used as the front cover of the Committee’s report to Government, due to be published in the Spring, on how to secure the health of Biodiversity and Ecosystems. 

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Biodiversity is continuing to decline faster now than at any time in human history, with an estimated 1 million animal and plant species threatened with extinction around the world. The fragile state of biodiversity has been brought into sharper focus in recent months with the recent documentaries by Sir David Attenborough and fears that the UK will fail to meet biodiversity targets.  

The EAC is keen to maintain this public interest and to invite members of the public to submit their own photographs of what they feel symbolises British nature. The competition may encourage some to undertake a new photography expedition when restrictions ease over the coming months, or a submission may be a photo that has been sitting in a camera roll for some time.   

Chair's comments

Environmental Audit Committee Chairman, Rt Hon Philip Dunne MP, said: 

“We are incredibly fortunate in the UK that we have unique wildlife on our doorsteps – and it doesn’t matter where in the UK you are or what season we’re in. But our British wildlife faces a very uncertain future, with many species threatened with extinction. 

“It’s not only a very sad state of affairs – some of the animals and plants that I remember seeing regularly when I was a child are now scarce – but there are severe repercussions for humans if we do not address declining biodiversity. The food we eat and the air we breathe depends on it. 

“We heard during evidence sessions of the importance of healthy ecosystems, and we are in a time of reckoning where we must adapt and put nature in recovery. With the Government setting bold environmental ambitions, we are hoping our report will be very carefully considered by Ministers. Our report will be incomplete without photographs to illustrate just how wonderful British nature is.” 

The competition closes on 12th March, before the finalists are selected by our Committee and winner chosen by Chairman Philip Dunne. Runners up will have their photographs featured within the report alongside the Committee’s recommendations for how to best protect the future of biodiversity in the UK. 

The launch of the competition comes ahead of the Ministerial evidence session for the Biodiversity and Ecosystems inquiry on Wednesday 13th January. The EAC will be hearing from Environment Secretary George Eustice, MHCLG Minister Chris Pincher and DEFRA Minister Zac Goldsmith. The evidence session offers the opportunity for the Committee to put some of the key findings during the inquiry to Government ahead of the report. 

Terms and conditions for the competition

You must follow current covid-19 guidelines and restrictions when taking your photo. You can submit a photo you have taken previously so long as you are the photographer and hold the copyright to the image. 

What you need to know

Please consider 

More information can be found in our privacy notice for the public: https://www.parliament.uk/globalassets/documents/data-protection/public-privacy-notice-25-may.pdf

Further information