ICIMOD Photo Contest on
Mountain Biodiversity

ICIMOD is organising a Photo Contest on 'Mountain Biodiversity' to mark the International Year of Biodiversity 2010 and raise awareness of the vital role that mountain biodiversity plays in sustaining life in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region and beyond. The themes of the competition reflect the theme of the International Year of Biodiversity 2010 'Biodiversity is life. Biodiversity is our life' , and the theme for the International Day for Biological Diversity 22 May 2010 'Biodiversity, Development and Poverty Alleviation'.

To qualify for the competition, images must be taken within the Hindu-Kush Himalayan portion of ICIMOD's regional member countries - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan - as shown in the ICIMOD regional map.

Images can be submitted in any of the following five categories:

1. Mountain agrobiodiversity
   (eg. food crops; horticulture; seeds and local produce; livestock/local breeds; wild edibles; value added products; farming techniques, tools, and innovations)
2. Livelihoods and ecosystem services related to mountain biodiversity
   (Provisioning - fauna, flora, and their products and markets related to food, fibre, fuel, water, shelter; Regulating and Supporting - services like climate regulation (forest, peatland), water purification (marshes), erosion control, and pollination, and including animal-plant interaction, predation, and scavenging; Cultural - services related to education, recreation, and spiritual and aesthetic values of biodiversity
3. Women and mountain biodiversity
   (eg. women's interaction with natural resources, farming, use of biodiversity resources, collection of fuelwood, fodder, wild edibles)
4. Indigenous/traditional knowledge and use associated with mountain biodiversity
   (eg. traditional uses of plant and animal resources including medicines, traditional use of biodiversity in religious and cultural activities, and traditional knowledge in biodiversity management like protection, storage, and seed management)
5. Threats to mountain biodiversity
   (eg. poaching, illegal trade in animal parts and medicinal herbs, mining, habitat fragmentation, deforestation, alien species, climate change)

The ICIMOD Hindu Kush-Himalayan Prize will be awarded to the overall best entry, and category prizes to the best entry in each category, each with a small cash prize and certificate.

• Entries must be digital black and white or colour images, in JPEG format, and between 1 and 8 MB in size.
• Contestants may submit up to five entries.
• The contestant must own the copyright to the entry.
• Contestants agree to allow their entries to be used, in whole or in part, by ICIMOD for non-commercial purposes (publications, calendar, websites, exhibitions, and similar). Due credit will be given to the copyright holder each time his/her entry is used. ICIMOD will provide a digital copy (print copy on request) to the contestant of any publication that includes a contestant's image.

• Entries that have already been contributed to ICIMOD, that have won an award in any other photo contest, or that have been used in a publication, are not eligible.
• Photos that have been digitally manipulated or enhanced (eg composite images) are not eligible. Cropping is permitted.
• ICIMOD staff are not eligible to participate in the contest.

[Note: The ICIMOD Photo Contest organisers reserve the right to reject entries that do not meet the terms and conditions outlined above.]

The contest is open to everybody except ICIMOD staff.

Each contestant may submit up to five entries in total, in any combination of categories. Submit entries ONE AT A TIME, using the online Submit Image Form.

10 May 2010

A panel of judges will select the entries for the ICIMOD Hindu Kush Himalayan Prize and other small cash prizes based on

• quality/visual impact,
• novelty, and
• overall effectiveness in conveying the thematic category.

For queries or further clarification, please write to photocontest@icimod.org