Nordea in Cooperation with WWF Invites to Participate in the International Competition „Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2010”

This year Nordea will support the international competition for young people from the Baltic Sea region countries „Young wildlife photographer of the year 2010” organized by the WWF, the Finnish Nature Photographers’ Association and the Scouts of Finland. The aim of the competition „Young wildlife photographer of the year 2010” is to encourage young people to find the best views and discover the nature of the Baltic Sea region, thereby also helping protect it. The patroness of the competition is the president of the Republic of Finland Tarja Halonen.

A country-specific competition is held in each of the nine coastal states: Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Russia. There are three categories of individual photographs for 15–18-year-olds in the competition: the Baltic Sea and Man, Nature in my Country, and Exploring Nature with Mobile Phones.

Each country will select a winner for each category. The main winner will be selected among the category winners. The main prize, a Nikon D700 camera and 24–120mm objective, will be granted when announcing the results at the Finlandia Nature Photo festival in Helsinki on 17 October 2010. In addition, all category winners will be invited to an international cruise in Finland’s Archipelago National Park in summer 2011. Through the cruise, the most talented young photographers from each country will be able to communicate their own vision of the Baltic Sea.

Nordea member of the board Anatolijs Peškovs: „I am glad that our neighbour country has taken initiative to organize such a competition, by involving also other Baltic Sea region countries, because ecological issues can be solved only by joint cooperation of all stakeholders. We are glad to support such kind of photography event, because it is a way to motivate young people to think „green”, giving also space to creative expression.”

The environmental aspect and nature protection are the reasons behind Nordea participating in this event. The principles of environmentally friendly conduct are integrated in the strategy of corporate social responsibility of the bank. It pertains both to day-to-day effective energy consumption, waste sorting and reduction of consumption of nature materials. For example, employees of the bank use recycled paper, switch off light and shutdown their PCies at night and the conditions for waste sorting are provided. Experts have recognized the Nordea House at K.Valdemara a sample of „green” architecture and construction. Since 2008.Nordea Group applies the method of „Green Footprint” to measure and reduce environmental impact.

The competition begins on 15 July 2010, and the uploading system for photographs will close on 15 September 2010 at 3 pm local time.

General information, rules, and other guidelines of the competition as well as information on the Baltic Sea can be found at www.ywp2010.com. You can also read President Tarja Halonen’s greeting for the young on this website. Download public press photographs of young people involved in nature photography at www.ywp2010.com/finland/press.