For the Lower Austrian environmental movement "Nature in the Garden", the year 2023 is all about "Animals in the Garden". In a photo competition in cooperation with the BILLA Foundation "Blühendes Österreich" (Blooming Austria) and CEWE Photo Service, the most beautiful garden visitors were brought in front of the photo lens.
"With almost 100,000 photos of native butterflies submitted, my thanks go to all participants in the photo competition. This underlines the importance and value of native butterflies, which are not only magnificent to look at, but also play a very important role in the preservation of biodiversity," emphasized Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner on the occasion of the award ceremony. The BILLA Foundation Blühendes Österreich (Blooming Austria) and the company CEWE-Fotoservice have significantly supported and accompanied the campaign.
With more than 4,000 species, Austria is considered a butterfly hotspot in Europe, but more than half of this biodiversity is already seriously endangered. The protection of our butterflies therefore requires the attention of all of us.
A jury and a public evaluation awarded the three most beautiful photos of the competition. Among all butterfly photos uploaded to the Schmetterlingsapp during the period of the photo contest, there was a special prize from Blühendes Österreich to be won - this went to Carina Hiebner.
At the awards ceremony at GARTEN TULLN at the end of September, the winners were delighted to receive valuable prizes from "Natur im Garten", CEWE, the "Natur im Garten" premium partner Multikraft and the "Natur im Garten" show gardens, as well as REWE.
The importance of butterflies for our ecosystem
With their blaze of color and delicacy, butterflies are beautiful, enchanting creatures and are probably among the prettiest garden visitors to our native wildlife. From caterpillar to butterfly, they have a high and very broad ecological significance and play an enormously important role in the ecosystem in which they live. Yet the numbers of insect jewels whose occurrences are found in healthy green spaces are in decline. Land sealing and construction, pesticide use, light pollution and climate change are all taking their toll on the butterflies. This is because their important task is to pollinate flowering plants. They also serve as a food source for bats, which are also highly endangered. Butterflies therefore play an essential role in the native species structure, and their endangerment can have a domino effect on many other animal species.
Inquiries & Contact:
Dr. Judith Terlizzi, Head of communication Blühendes Österreich, +43 676 711 74 50, j.terlizzi@bluehendesoesterreich.at
Mag. Franz-Xaver Hebenstreit, Press „Natur im Garten“, Tel. +43 676 848 790 737, franz.hebenstreit@naturimgarten.at
