Warwickshire News Mine

“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.

Link to WCC