Forest ‘playground’ wins European Forest Week photo contest 

Julia Kelly from the United Kingdom has won the European Forest Week ‘Value of Forests’ photo contest with her entry “Forêt de la Combe”.

FAO received over 100 photos from 34 countries for the contest, which challenged people to show the ways in which the region’s forests contribute to human health, wealth and wellbeing, harbour biodiversity and help combat climate change.

Swiss forester and photographer Christian Küchli chose four finalists who went to the public vote on FAO’s Facebook page, receiving over 2 000 likes and comments.

The greatest number of votes went to Kelly’s photo, which shows a forest with a natural cascading stream near the Swiss village of Givrins, where she spent her childhood.

“This forest I grew up in gave me clean air and clean water but, most of all, a playground full of elves and other imaginary creatures,” said Kelly, a forest ecologist studying for a Master’s degree at Lund University in Sweden.

“These woods inspired me to be more adventurous, to go out alone, trust myself and my sense of direction, and go exploring.”

Kelly wins a trip to European Forest Week, which is taking place in Engelberg, Switzerland, 2-6 November 2015.

The other three finalists in the contest were Gervasio Ruíz Álvarez (Spain), Nuria Martínez Pascual (Spain) and Inger Marie Mulvad (Denmark).

See all the finalists and runners-up in the contest Flickr gallery.