Evaluating and ultimately ranking creative articles on sometimes very different subject matter as part of one contest is a challenge. With only the overall theme having been predefined, submissions tend to vary greatly in language, narrative and writing style, and indeed tackle a wide range of sub-topics as well.

During the review period for our second writing contest - on biodiversity and ecosystems - this challenging task turned out to be quite an exciting job for the panel: The contestants sent the jurors on a journey from the Ugandan wetlands to the valleys of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers; taught them of the Amazon forest and the Yellow River Delta in China; expounded upon Aboriginal communities across Australia and their deep connection to land and health; analysed to the social history of wolves; and painted a rich picture of human livelihood in the Eastern highlands of Zimbabwe.

Back from the journey and filled with vivid impressions, the jury finally decided on five winners to be featured in the upcoming DIMENSIONS issue and be awarded cash prizes: Look forward to Carl Huchzermeyer’s beautifully written account of “A morning in the life-giving Bangweulu swamps“ (1st place); José Edgardo A. Gomez, Jr. eloquently portraying “The City as Urban Reef“ (2nd place); Cooper Rosin’s poignant descriptions on bushmeat and biodiversity in tropical forests in “Hunting for a Solution“ (3rd place); Marta Berbés-Blázquez’  “When a tree falls in a forest and it does not make a sound“ (4th place); and Ruenda Loots (5th place) writing about “One planet: Many futures“.

This and much more can be found in the upcoming issue of the DIMENSIONS magazine, to be published in December 2012!

Photo by Diego Medrano