National Parks Board Launches "City in a Garden" Year-Long Photography Competition

The "City in a Garden" photography competition hopes to showcase the amazing biodiversity and greenery that make Singapore vibrant and interesting through the lenses of photographers. The competition will feature an open category, a junior category and a youth category.

In the open category, participants can submit photographs of what they think best represents the four themes: "Our Parks and Gardens", "Trees and Forests", "BiodiverCity" and "My City in a Garden". They will compete for the cash prizes worth $29 000 as well as other attractive prizes worth over $27 000, including an expedition to Burkina Faso, West Africa.

In October 2011, City Developments Limited (CDL) will be organising their biennial CDL Singapore Young Photographer Award (SYPA). CDL will be adopting all the four themes from the NParks "City in the Garden" Photography Competition. Youth between the ages of 13 and 25 years old can compete in this brand new "Young Nature Photographer Award" with cash prizes worth $5 000.

In November 2011, there will be an additional junior category photography competition presented by Clarins. This will be for children between seven and 12 years old who can also submit photographs for the four themes to win cash prizes worth $5 000.

Minister of State for National Development and Manpower, Brigadier-General (NS) Tan Chuan-Jin, announced the launch of the "City in a Garden" photography competition this morning.

NParks Chief Executive Officer, Mr Poon Hong Yuen, said. "Our tree-lined roads and matrix of parks and green spaces are very much part of the Singaporean life. With the increasing need for breathing and living space in our urban city, our parks and gardens have also become key destinations for recreation and relaxation. Through this competition, we want to invite people to show us their interpretation of what this living space and the greenery that Singapore is famous for."

Mr David P C Tay, President of The Photographic Society of Singapore, said, "In last year's BiodiverCity photography competition, response far exceeded our expectation and it was a clear reflection on the popularity of nature photography among Singaporean photographers. I am glad that biodiversity remains a big part of the competition this year and I think this competition will help raise the awareness of Singapore's biodiversity."

Winning and selected photos from the competition will be exhibited at various venues and selected NParks events. The "City in a Garden" photography competition is organised by the National Parks Board (NParks) with the Photographic Society of Singapore as the organising partner.

The "City in a Garden" photography competition is made possible with the support of our sponsors, Clarins, Panasonic and Grand Hyatt Singapore as well as our supporting partner, City Developments Limited.

Clarins, as the major sponsor, will contribute a fully paid overseas expedition to Burkina Faso, West Africa for the overall best winner worth $20 000. This special prize includes an exploration trip to one of the villages alongside their key ethno-botanist, Jean-Pierre Nicholas. Jean-Pierre Nicholas created "Jardin du Monde", an association dedicated to restoring traditional medicinal plants for rural population who has no access to modern medicine.

First prize winners of each theme will also win a Lumix camera sponsored by Panasonic. Eight merit award winners under the "My City in a Garden" theme will also receive a Grand Hyatt Singapore Vanda Orchid Travel Kit (Do -It-Yourself spa travel kit).

The generous support from our sponsors and partners allows us to extend our outreach to the community and reconnect them back to our natural heritage and local biodiversity.

Singapore Botanic Gardens celebrates the International Year of Forests 2011

The "City in a Garden" photography competition was announced at launch of the "Forests, People, Environment" exhibition at Singapore Botanic Gardens. This exhibition is one of the key events organised by NParks in celebration of the United Nations' International Year of Forests (IYF) this year. It highlights the importance of forests to people as well as the rich biodiversity that can be found in forests. In particular, relevance is drawn in the Singapore context - Singapore, with its tree-lined roads, hierarchy of parks, nature reserves and green spaces linked by park connectors, is an urban forest. Visitors will also learn about the unique conservation of our urban forest. In conjunction with this exhibition, the Gardens will be conducting a series of special talks on conservation and increasing the number of guided walks available.

The exhibition is free for the public and is on display at Botany Centre, Singapore Botanic Gardens from 2nd July to 24th July from 9.00 am to 6.00 pm daily.
As part of the International Year of Forests celebrations, NParks is also organising the IYF "Share Your Story" contest. Visitors to the exhibition are invited to share their experiences with NParks at www.nparks.gov.sg/iyf2011 and stand to win prizes monthly.