05 February 2024
FOUR STUDENTS FROM MADAGASCAR WIN THE “VARUNA BIODIVERSITÉ” REGIONAL PHOTO COMPETITION
The awards ceremony for the “People at the heart of biodiversity” photo competition took place in Madagascar on Monday, February 05, 2024.
The Varuna program, financed by the French Development Agency (AFD) and coordinated by Expertise France, aims to halt biodiversity loss on the islands of the south-west Indian Ocean, for the benefit of the region’s inhabitants. And, in particular, by strengthening the links between science and society to put biodiversity back at the heart of our exchanges.
With this in mind, at the end of 2023, our teams organized the first Varuna Biodiversity Photo Competition, open only to students in higher education in the southwest Indian Ocean (Madagascar, Union of the Comoros, Mauritius, Seychelles, Reunion and Mayotte).
Several dozen participants from all over the region competed on the following theme: “People at the heart of biodiversity”. The choice was not easy for the jury, made up of biodiversity specialists, scientists and image professionals from various countries in the region and Europe.
The winners of the photo competition:
After several weeks of competition, with over a hundred images submitted, the winners, whose work was selected, are four students from Madagascar:
- 1st prize: David Mahasetra RAZAFIMBOHITRA with “Baobabs at dawn”.
- 2nd prize: Aroniaina Manampitahiana FALINIRINA with “Suivi écologique en milieu marin” (Ecological monitoring in a marine environment)
- 3rd prize: Michel Rahajanirina RATSIZAFY with ” Pêcheur d’algues » (Seaweed fisherman)
- And to everyone’s surprise, a 4th prize, the “Prix coup de cœur” (jury’s favourtite) : Tantely Enzo Zald Karim RAZAFIMISA with “Chutes de la Lily” (Lily’s waterfalls).
The awards ceremony:
In the presence of some twenty people, after the opening speech by Mr. Patrick Bosdure, Counsellor for Cooperation and Cultural Affairs of the French Embassy in Madagascar, who began the prize-giving ceremony, Mr. Yves Guicquéro, Director of the AFD-Agence Française de Développement in Madagascar, Mr. Defives Bastien, President of the Jury for this photo competition, and Mrs. Mirana Randriamampionona, Communications Officer and organizer of the competition, successively presented the prizes to the four winners (photo equipment, smartphone, software subscriptions, photo bag, etc.). ..).
Their works were exhibited in the main hall of the Musée de la photographie de Madagascar, a place symbolic of the photographic valorization of Madagascar’s heritage.
These photographs illustrate both the beauty and diversity of Madagascar’s ecosystems and landscapes, and the strong bond that the Malagasy people have with Nature.
To spread this message as widely as possible, they will be published in GECKO magazine, a new medium for the popularization of science on biodiversity in the Indian Ocean created thanks to the Varuna program, as well as more widely at all program events.
What’s next?
We look forward to seeing you at the end of 2024 for the launch of the new edition, which we hope will be just as successful and make this annual competition a must for photographers from Madagascar and the Indian Ocean region.
To see the press videos of the ceremony:
– Kolo TV
To read press articles :
– Les Nouvelles
