Photo Competition: Restoring Africa’s Ecosystems

Show us restoration action in Africa


The competition is now closed. See the winner here.

In October 2019, Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) Accra will be putting Africa’s ecosystems in the international spotlight.

Successful community-led restoration initiatives will be showcased during the GLF Accra event 29-30 October 2019 in Ghana’s capital city, to help gather public and private support for sustainable action. At the same time, leading thinkers and practitioners will put on the table some of the best solutions to reach sustainability goals on the continent.

But to share more of this restoration action in Africa, and to inspire even further action, we need your eyes and your cameras.

We want you to share your best photographs featuring restoration across Africa. Capture how people, communities and businesses are making a difference through transformation of ecosystems and securing nature and livelihoods.

Feel free to think beyond reforestation – an important goal, but not the only concern. We’re keen to see how ecosystem restoration brings food and water security, promotes rights and gender equality, fosters education and reduces waste. We’re also interested in portraits of the people who are making restoration a reality.

In order to be certain that we have the whole picture, send us your best shots along with a short description of the restoration project: the who, what, why, when and where.

Prize

  • The winner of the GLF Accra Photo Competition will receive a $500 cash prize and global visibility across GLF digital and social media channels.
  • We will showcase the winning photos at the GLF Accra 2019 event, bringing you and your work to the attention of a global audience, both on-site and online.
  • Winning photographs will also become part of the GLF photo archive, for use on future GLF publications and news articles, with the winner’s photo credit.

Eligibility
The competition is open to anyone and everyone, whether you are a photo enthusiast or a professional photographer.

Application

  • To participate, upload your best photo here.
  • The uploaded file must include the photo’s title, the contributor’s name and contact information including email address, social media handles and a caption listing the location and subject.

Important dates
Applications open: 9 September 2019
Applications close: deadline extended to 11 October 2019
Finalists Announced: 14 October 2019
Public voting: 14-25 October 2019
Winners announced: 26 October 2019

Winner selection
A panel of judges selected by GLF will review all entries and choose up to 25 photos from all eligible submissions received during the competition period. Finalists will be chosen by the judges based on the following criteria:

  • Creativity (30%)
  • Photographic quality (30%)
  • Composition (30%)
  • Execution of theme (10%)

Then, on 13 October 2019, the finalist photos will be published on GLF’s online platforms and the public will have the opportunity to vote for the photos they like best. The submission that receives the highest number of votes will be deemed the winner, subject to verification and compliance with official rules. The winner will be announced on 26 October 2019 on the GLF website and social media channels. All finalists will have their images featured at GLF Accra and on GLF’s website and social media channels.


Who can participate?

Anyone over the age of 18 can submit photos to the competition. We are looking for perspectives on climate action from around the world.

Outcome

Finalist photos will be featured and shared across GLF platforms and products. The most popular photos after public voting will be featured at GLF Accra, with the winning photo receiving $500 as a prize.

Evaluation process

A panel of judges selected by GLF (to be announced) will select up to 25 photos from all eligible submissions received during the competition period. Please note that while one person can submit more than one photo, any single contributor can have just one finalist photo. Finalists will be chosen based on the following criteria:

Creativity (30%)
Photographic quality (30%)
Composition (30%)
Execution of theme (10%)

On October 5th, the finalist photos will be published on GLF platforms and the public will have the opportunity to vote the photos they like best. The submission that receives the highest number of votes during the voting period will be deemed the Grand Prize winner, subject to verification and compliance with these official rules. The Grand Prize Winner will be announced on October 19, 2019 on the GLF website and social media channels. All finalists will have their images featured on GLF platforms.

How do I submit my photo?

Upload your photo via the submission form.

Terms and conditions

Contributors must be 18 years old or older to submit a photo. The photo must be original and owned by the contributor. By submitting photos to the competition, the contributor agrees to a creative commons, attribution, non-commercial share-alike license (BY-NC-SA).

Competition organizers reserve the right to use photos submitted through the competition for GLF materials and exhibitions during Forum events. Contributors will be given proper credit when the organizers publish or use their pictures. Contributors do not have permission to use the photos they submitted for commercial purposes.

Contributors who work for the media are required to attach an authorization signed by a representative of the media company employing them. This authorization should state that the organizers of the contest have permission to publish the author’s piece from the media outlet in which the photo originally appeared. Please attach your authorization (if applicable) in the submission form.

The GLF reserves the right to disqualify contestants in the case of suspicious activity throughout the voting period. Fraudulent activities will be monitored and will lead to exclusion.