Our friends at the Rainforest Alliance want you to take out your camera and snap some shots of sustainability. They’ve launched their second annual “Picture Sustainability” photo contest with a grand prize for a trip to Costa Rica!

From the Rainforest Alliance: Whether the word “sustainability” conjures up images of red-eyed tree frogs, tapirs, and scarlet macaws or farm families enjoying decent houses with running water and their children attending well-maintained schools, you’re invited to submit photos depicting the concept of sustainability to the Rainforest Alliance’s second “Picture Sustainability” photo contest.

With sponsorship from Fujifilm, the Rainforest Alliance hopes to raise awareness about conservation issues while expanding its collection of photos for use in its publications and on its Web site.

“Powerful images can provoke emotional responses and act as calls-to-action the way few other media forms can,” explained Rainforest Alliance president Tensie Whelan . “Winning photos will captivate a wide audience and connect people to the beautiful ecosystems that the Rainforest Alliance helps to conserve.”

One grand-prize winner will receive a five-day, four-night rafting and eco-tour for two to Costa Rica, including airfare, sponsored by Colorado-based Aventouras and Costa Rica Nature Adventures’ Pacuare Jungle Lodge. The trip combines rafting on the world’s most scenic white water, surrounded by unparalleled natural beauty, with gourmet food and the utmost in service at the award-winning lodge.  The grand-prize winner also will receive a Fujifilm Finepix digital camera.

Four category winners – one from each of the contest’s photo categories – will also receive a Fujifilm FinePix digital camera.  All winners will receive an honorary one-year membership to the Rainforest Alliance e.

Winners will be chosen from the following categories:

• Wildlife on farms, forests or other natural habitats
• Landscapes (forests, waterways, flowers and plants, beaches, wetlands)
• Sustainable tourism (hiking, bird watching, mountain biking, and other land-based nature activities; surfing, scuba, kayaking, snorkeling and other coastal or marine activities; other ecotourism-related subjects)
• Conservation (people working to protect natural resources, including water, flora and fauna)

Rainforest Alliance staff members will select up to five finalists in each category, post them on its Web site (www.rainforest-alliance.org) and invite the public to vote on category winners.  Separately, celebrated nature

Photographer Art Wolfe will select the Grand Prize-winning photo from the group of finalists based on overall composition, creativity, artistic merit and relevance to the Rainforest Alliance mission.

Photographers can enter by visiting www.raphotocontest.org.  Photos must be submitted by November 1, 2009 and winners will be announced on the Rainforest Alliance’s Web site (www.rainforest-alliance.org) on December 15, 2009. All photos are considered donations to the Rainforest Alliance to be used in the organization’s publications and Web site.

The Rainforest Alliance thanks Fujifilm and Art Wolfe for their generous support of this contest.

The Rainforest Alliance works to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods by transforming land-use practices, business practices and consumer behavior. For more information, visit www.rainforest-alliance.org.

Image courtesy of NBII database; photographer John J. Mosesso: images.nbii.gov/insects/nbii_t00455.jpg

You can also view our favorite photography site Photographer Victoria and Photographer Vancouver

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