Connect with the forest with PEFC – check out Portugal’s winning photos

2 August 2017 Forests in photos

“We were delighted to receive more than 400 photographs from professional photographers, amateurs, students and nature lovers,” said Paula Salazar, National Secretary of PEFC Portugal, announcing the winners of PEFC Portugal’s ‘Liga-te à floresta com o PEFC’ photo contest.

The striking ‘Árvore Torcida pelo Vento’ (twisted tree by the wind) by João Pedro Costa won first place. The image was taken in the Bordalete pine forest on the southern coast of Portugal.

Árvore Torcida pelo Vento

“The Bordalete pine forest is at least 300 years old. Located along the Atlantic coast, it is constantly whipped by the north wind, known as Nortada. The result of this on the trees is the unique and sometimes bizarre forms that the trunks have developed over the years,” said Mr. Costa.

For his first-placed photo, Mr. Costa won a weekend for two at the Palace Hotel do Bussaco, one of the most beautiful and historic hotels in the world, in the heart of an enchanting and PEFC-certified forest.

Paula Barbas was awarded second prize with his photograph captured in the Casas da Azenha, in the Costa Verde region of northern Portugal.

"Discovering the beauty of this photo... depends, I suppose, on our capacity to feel it and our feelings towards it: the photograph, the tree, the forest and ourselves. I think there is something in the image that can carry us. Perhaps to the deepest of mysteries: the primordial mystery of life. Light and shadow, the subtlety of the earth's scents and the silence and the magical sounds of the forest."
Text by Maria Alexandra Cruz Mendes

Mr. Barbas wins a photography workshop at the Portuguese Institute of Photography.

In third place was ‘Rio Zêzere da N238’ by Luís Quilhó, taken from the national road no. 238 in central Portugal.

Rio Zêzere da N238

“Driving along the 238 National Road we were rewarded with an intense experience of immersion in a green ocean of pine trees,” commend Mr. Quilhó

“Going in the direction of Fundão-Orvalho, we stopped the car to appreciate the magnificence of the river Zêzere. From here, we could glimpse its valley, some of the mountains of the Serra da Estrela and the huge forest area that the river cuts through.”

For third place, Mr. Quilhó wins a voucher for his choice of adventure experience.

A note of thanks

“I would like to give special thanks to our jury: Margarida Dias (Professional Photographer); Carlos Vieira (President of PEFC Portugal) and Sofia Santos (Secretary General of the BCSD),” added Ms. Salazar.

“Also a special thanks to all the organizations that supported us in the dissemination of the contest and in particular to the Portuguese Institute of Photography.”