The International Contest of Children Paintings “Wetlands for Life”

TERMS AND CONDITIONS for

the International Painting Contest for Children

“Wetlands for Life” as part of the communication campaign

dedicated to 2021-THE YEAR FOR WETLANDS

The International Painting Contest for Children “Wetlands for Life” (hereinafter referred to as the Contest) is organized to raise awareness of teachers and students about wetlands conservation on a global scale, and to inform about the role and significance of wetlands.

Art works depicting wetlands, swamps, lakes and rivers of the Amur-Heilong River Basin and their inhabitants (Oriental stork, cranes, soft-shelled turtle (Trionyx), lotus, salmon, etc.) can be submitted to the Contest.

1. General information

WWF Russia declared 2021 – the Year for Wetlands in the Amur-Heilong River Basin.

2021 marks the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, mainly as habitats for waterfowl (1971). There are a number of wetlands of international importance located in the Amur-Heilong River Basin (in Russia, Mongolia and China).

There are 6 Ramsar sites on the Russian side of the Amur basin covering the area of 825,500 hectares: Torey Lakes in Zabaikalsky province, the Zeya-Bureya Plain and the Khingan-Arkharinskaya Lowland in Amurkaya province, Lake Bolon and Lake Udyl in Khabarovsky province, and Khanka Lake in Primorsky province. 16 wetlands include 10 in Heilongjiang Province, 3 in Jilin Province and 3 in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Three Ramsar sites in Mongolia: Mongol Daguur in Dornod Province, lakes in the Khurkh-Khuiten River Valley in Khentii province, Lake Buir and its surrounding wetlands in Dornod province.

The Year for Wetlands-2021 aims to inform the public about the role and importance of wetlands, the goals and objectives of establishing Ramsar sites, to draw people's attention to conservation issues and to involve them in practical work on the conservation of wetlands on a global scale.

The Contest is held in the countries of the Amur-Heilong Ecoregion – Russia, China, and Mongolia. On the territory of Russia, the contest is held by WWF Russia Amur branch with the support of nature reserves and national parks, student nature protection brigades of the Amur ecoregion.

2. Tasks

2.1. To inspire and activate the work of educational organizations to attract schoolchildren to study and preserve wetlands.

2.2. To improve the level of schoolchildren knowledge about wetlands:

a) habitats of rare species and centers of biodiversity;

b) accumulators of precipitation and natural water reserves (in the context of floods and climate changes);

c) core areas of the Australian-Asian flyway of waterfowl.

2.3. Create conditions for children to express themselves creatively.

3. Participants

3.1. Schoolchildren, pupils of secondary schools, educational organizations, organizations of extracurricular education, art schools and art studios.

3.2. The paintings will be divided and evaluated in three age categories: 5-8, 9-13 and 14-18 years old.

4. Period

4.1. Paintings should be scanned and uploaded in electronic format to a special section of the Amur Information Center website (www.amurinfocenter.org) in the period from 2 February to 30 April 2021.

4.2. Each Participant uploads the painting on the website www.amurinfocenter.org and fills in the necessary information on the proposed form. The site contains detailed instructions for submitting the contest entries. It is necessary to note the point about consent to the processing of personal data.

4.3. The selection of the winners of the international level is carried out by a jury formed of representatives of the national WWF organizations of Russia, China and Mongolia, and invited specialists in the field of fine arts. In total, 3 winners will be selected in each of 3 categories (9 winners in total).

4.4. The Contest also provides the nomination “Popular Vote”. The popular vote option will be open until May 31, 2021. According to the results of the voting, 9 more winners will be determined the nomination “Popular Vote” (three works in each age category). The paintings that receive the highest number of votes will be awarded with special prizes.

In case of simultaneous victory of the art work in the “Popular Vote” nomination and according to the jury evaluation, the work is awarded only in the main nomination of the Contest.

5. Requirements for the design of paintings

5.1. The paintings must correspond to the theme of the Contest. Paintings of the Amur River basin and its inhabitants (Oriental stork, cranes, trionyx, lotus, salmon, etc.), as well as paintings depicting threats to these species and habitats.

5.2. Paintings made in any art technique are accepted.

5.3. The works are evaluated according to the following criteria: compliance with the theme of the Contest, expressiveness, originality, independence of performance, mastery of technique and material.

5.4. In order to submit your work to the contest website, you must set the scanning density at least 200 and not more than 600 DPI. When processing scans or photos of the painting, the recommended resolution (horizontal and vertical size of the image) is 2048x1360 pixels, but not less than 1280x720. Thus, the size of a single file should not exceed 3 MB.

5.5. Only individual works are allowed to participate.

5.6. By taking part in the Contest, the author hereby agrees to the further use of his painting by WWF for non-commercial environmental purposes with preserved and indicated copyright of the author of the painting.

6. Awarding procedure

6.1. The results of the competition will be announced in June 2021.

6.2. The winners of the Contest will be awarded with WWF diplomas and prizes, that will be sent to the winners by postal service.

6.3. All participants of the Contest will receive certificates of participation in the contest, which will be sent to the email address provided in the registration form when submitting their work to the website.

6.3. The works of the Contest participants will be displayed on social networks and on the official web pages of WWF.

Additional information

Why do we need wetlands?

Wetlands are natural water reservoirs. They accumulate a huge amount of water, preventing it from quickly escaping into rivers-they prevent the occurrence of floods. During the dry period, this water gradually enters the rivers, not allowing them to dry up.

Wetland is a filter. Peat, effectively absorbs pollutants, including heavy metals. Therefore, wetlands purify water from impurities and pollutants. And wetlands attract and deposit all the dust from the adjacent areas. So they purify not only the water, but also the air.

Wetlands are the "lungs of the planet". Yes, these nondescript ecosystems are 7-15 times more efficient at producing oxygen and absorbing carbon dioxide than forests. One hectare of wetland can absorb up to 1,800 kg of carbon dioxide per year and produce up to 700 kg of oxygen.

Swamps are home to animals and plants. It is an ecosystem with the highest level of biodiversity, competing with tropical forests and seas. It is home to waterfowl and near-water birds, amphibians or fish. The swamps attract ungulates, which find abundant food here and are well protected from predators: here they give birth and feed their young. There are also predators in the swamps – foxes, badgers, raccoon dogs, which find food here – small rodents, fish, amphibians, eggs and bird chicks. In late summer and autumn, a bear comes out to the swamps in search of berries for "fattening".

Unfortunately, there is destruction and reduction of wetlands, pollution, violation of the hydrological regime of wetlands due to economic activities, including the construction of hydro power infrastructure in the upper reaches of rivers, as well as under the influence of climatic factors; due to fires and other negative anthropogenic factors, the level of biodiversity on wetlands decreases.