As part of World Wetlands Day on February 2 2021, Dún na Sí Amenity and Heritage Park in Moate hosted an exciting photography competition.
The competition asked participants to submit their best personal photos of water courses, wetlands, and associated nature in their area and within their current travel restrictions. The competition was open to people of all ages from across the country, and Dún na Sí received hundreds of wonderful entries.
World Wetlands Day falls in February each year with the sole purpose of raising global awareness about the vital role of wetlands for people and the planet.
This year, the theme was ‘Wetlands and Water’; with the campaign highlighting the contribution of wetlands to the quality and quantity of freshwater on the planet.
Dún na Sí is home to one of the few turloughs east of the River Shannon, making it a very unique aspect of the park.
Also referred to as the ‘disappearing lake’, the turlough at Dún na Sí only fills up with water in the winter and disappears again by spring. Due to their unusual environmental conditions, turloughs are a wonderful support to biodiversity.
The winning competition photograph was taken by Rachael Cregg, with second place, third place, and a merit place awarded to Cristina Carrozzo, Caoimhe Tyndall, and Sylwia Kowalska respectively.
The winners received some great prizes including One4All vouchers and Dún na Sí annual car park passes and family memberships. The competition was kindly supported by the Local Authority Waters Programme.
Dún na Sí would like to thank all of the entrants to the competition - all of their fantastic entries can now be viewed and enjoyed on the Dún na Sí website at https://dunnasi.ie/news/world-wetlands-day-2021-photography-competition/.
