THE impact of Storm Arwen and the forest regeneration process it accelerated is depicted in the winning image in the Changing Forests category of this year’s Earth Photo, the international competition and exhibition created by Forestry England and the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG).
Photographer David Rippin’s image of Grizedale Forest in the Lake District with windblown silver birch and the snapped trunks of spruce trees in the aftermath of the storm was announced as category winner at the RGS at a recent awards evening.
The overall competition winner was Mohammad Rakibul Hasan for his pair of photos documenting the devastating effects of climate change in Bangladesh.
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Though named ‘Destruction’, David's winning image shows the cycle of forest renewal and regeneration which follows the storm, a theme also referenced in other images which were shortlisted for the Changing Forests category award.
Robin Dodd’s ‘Time to Grow’ shows a fallen beech trunk on the forest floor beginning its new role providing habitat and valuable ecosystem services to the surrounding woodland. And the role of trees in absorbing carbon is the focus of Roberto Bueno’s ‘Wind energy and trees: allied against climate change', which captures a lone pine tree alongside a wind turbine, highlighting the part both are playing in tackling the climate emergency.
An exhibition of the shortlisted works is at the RGS in London and a touring exhibition of selected images has opened in the first two of six Forestry England sites. The touring exhibition will display 29 of the 55 final shortlisted entries by 35 different artists, allowing visitors to view the stunning images taken from the five Earth Photo categories, People, Place, Nature, Changing Forests, and A Climate of Change. Four of the Forestry England exhibitions are staged outdoors, giving visitors a chance to view them in the heart of the forest landscape.
The entries were judged by an expert panel of photographers, curators, geographers, environmentalists, filmmakers and writers, chaired by award-winning photographer Marissa Roth.
Mike Seddon, Forestry England chief executive, said: “It’s fascinating that the power and impact of Storm Arwen, which we and the forestry sector continue to respond to, is a focus of several entries in Earth Photo this year.
"These images show not only the storm’s destructive impact of but also the recovery that follows as forests and woodlands begin their process of regeneration.
"This mirrors the work we’re doing in the nation’s forests to enable their resilience and recovery and support them to cope with the increasing pressures of climate change and pests and diseases in the decades ahead.”
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