Warwickshire News Mine

11 August 2006

Life through a lens at Warwickshire Museum

The beauty and diversity of the wildlife in the West Midlands region has been captured for everyone to admire at Warwickshire Museum.

“How do you see the wildlife of the West Midlands?” That was the question posed to local photographers last year by the West Midlands Biodiversity Partnership (WMBP) and it attracted over 200 entries to the West Midlands Wildlife Photography Competition 2005.

Sponsored by Sigma for the second year running, the competition has helped to raise the profile of the work of the partnership and our region’s amazing wildlife and the issues surrounding it. 

The competition included four categories - ‘Broadening our Horizons,’ covering landscapes and habitats, both rural and urban; ‘In Praise of Plants,’ celebrating native trees, flowers, plants and fungi; ‘Animal Magic,’ including mammals, birds, insects and amphibians; and the ‘Junior Wildlife Photography Award,’ open to those aged 16 years and under and with the theme of ‘The Four Seasons’

The competition was judged by a panel, which included award-winning photographer Nick Garbutt, who has had articles published in BBC Wildlife and National Geographic, and has won categories in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.

One winner and runner-up were picked from each category, and highly commended awards given to those photos that the judges felt deserved recognition.  The overall West Midlands Wildlife Photographer of the Year, chosen from the winners, was Danny Beath from Shropshire for his picture ‘Porcelain Mushrooms’. Danny received the star prize, kindly donated by Sigma, of an 18-125mm wide angle to telephoto zoom lens. 

An exhibition of the winners, runners-up and highly commended pictures is on display at Warwickshire Museum until September 25.

Steven Falk, Senior Keeper of Natural History at Warwickshire Museum, said:  “There is tremendous beauty within nature, and all you need is a half-decent camera and a good eye to catch it. The Museum is delighted to be able to host these wonderful photos.”

The competition formed part of the WMBP’s project, Rebuilding Regional Biodiversity, which aimed to look after wildlife in the Region by promoting its needs and the issues surrounding it and ensuring it is included in regional polices and plans. The project is funded by DEFRA’s Environmental Action Fund and the Heritage Lottery Fund. The Warwickshire Coventry and Solihull Action for Wildlife Initiative is one of six Local Biodiversity Action Plans currently operating within the West Midlands under the umbrella of the WMBP. To find out more about this project, visit the web site at: http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/biodiversity. To find out more about the WMBP, visit http://www.wmbp.org.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

The West Midlands Wildlife Photography Competition 2005 formed part of the WMBP’s Rebuilding Regional Biodiversity Project. The project was funded by DEFRA’S Environmental Action Fund and the Heritage Lottery Fund and helped local Biodiversity Action Plans, advised policy-makers, supported landowners, and communicated biodiversity issues to a wide audience. To find out more about the West Midlands Biodiversity Partnership and what is happening in the Region, check out http://www.wmbp.org.

The competition is in its second year and the winners of 2004 and 2005 can be found at http://www.wmbp.org. 

The Warwickshire Coventry and Solihull Action for Wildlife Initiative is one of six Local Biodiversity Action Plans currently operating within the West Midlands under the umbrella of . To find out more about the project, visit the web site at: http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/biodiversity.

For more information about the work of Nick Garbutt or Heather Angel, or Sigma products visit http://www.nickgarbutt.com, http://www.naturalvisions.co.uk, or http://www.sigma-imaging-uk.com respectively.

The members of the WMBP are: the Association of Local Government Ecologists, British Waterways, Butterfly Conservation, CLA, Countryside Agency, DEFRA, English Nature, Environment Agency, Forestry Commission, Government Office for the West Midlands, The National Trust, NFU, RSPB, Severn Trent Water Ltd, West Midland Bird Club, West Midlands LBAP Coordinator’s Group, West Midlands Local Government Association, West Midlands Regional Assembly, The West Midlands Wildlife Trusts, The Woodland Trust.

The Partnership’s role is to ensure appropriate consideration of biodiversity needs and opportunities by regional interests, and to foster the integration of local, regional and national biodiversity conservation practice. It provides policy advice, disseminates information and seeks resources to support nature conservation throughout the West Midlands Region (Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands County and Worcestershire).

Link to WCC