After the successful organization of the first photo competition “Natura 2000 – Click at nature!”, which attracted more than 1,000 entries, WWF Greece and the LIFE-IP 4 NATURA project partners invite us to become ambassadors of Natura 2000 areas again.
In other words, to become ambassadors of the areas where the protected species of flora and fauna of our country find a valuable refuge for their survival. The Natura areas, with their unique landscapes, the beauty and the rich life they host, form and shape the identity of the world-known “Greek nature”.
The photo competition Natura 2000 – Click at nature! is organised with the support of PHOTOgrafos magazine and targets both professional and amateur photographers, who can claim rich prizes, competing in 4 thematic categories:
- Humans & Nature
- Birds
- Fauna and Flora
- Landscape
The only condition for participation in the competition is that the photos submitted must have been taken in one of the 446 Natura 2000 areas of Greece.
The purpose of the photo contest is to highlight both the beauty and the priceless ecological value of the Natura 2000 areas in our country, but also to raise public awareness of the dangers that pose an immediate threat to these unique ecosystems, such as the climate crisis and its multifaceted effects.
In Greece we meet 450 species of birds, of which 62 are threatened with extinction. We meet 115 species of mammals, of which 28 are threatened with extinction. There are 630 species of fish in our seas and rivers, but 28 of them are also at risk of extinction.
The loss of biodiversity, a crisis with global dimensions, could not have left our country unaffected. It is a crisis that -quietly but at an accelerating rate- is making our planet increasingly poorer in life. To protect biodiversity, the European Union created the largest network of protected areas in the world: the Natura 2000 network. A network that in our country extends to 446 areas, protecting the most valuable and most vulnerable features of Greek nature.
Against the global challenge of biodiversity loss, Greece can play a disproportionately important -compared to its size- role. And this is because it has a high rate of endemism. In other words, it hosts a large number of species that spread exclusively in our country and nowhere else in the world!
The photo contest participation registrations have begun! The competition will end on Thursday 31 March 2022, while the names of the winners will be announced on 21 May 2022, as part of the celebration of the European Natura 2000 Day.