Bangkok, 5 June 2011
- A Japanese student's painting caught the
eyes of judges, making it the Asia Pacific
winner of the United Nations Environment
Programme's (UNEP) annual International
Children's Painting Competition. Fourteen-year
old Erina Hashimoto's painting, based on
the competition theme, "Life in the
Forests", beat more than 12,000 entries
from Asia Pacific to make her the winner
of this year's competition.
The UNEP Tunza International
Painting Competition is an annual event
that is jointly organized by UNEP, Bayer
AG, the Japan-based Foundation of Global
Peace and Environment (FGPE) and Nikon Corporation.
Erina's painting conveys
the importance of the environment to life
on earth and how people around the world
can protect the environment and also replace
what people have used, such as planting
the tree.
"Insects are tiny
but they also are a source of precious life
on our planet. When I was thinking of the
environment, I came up with the idea of
watching the world of insects. I tried to
look at the window of the world from at
their perspective. There I found an interesting
and unfamiliar world. Ants are moving busily
to find something. A ladybird is approaching.
What is the dragonfly trying to do? How
marvelous the patterns on its wings are!
I found such a lot of species at this small
corner of the forest. There are lots of
lives in the urban area which we think is
apart from the nature. When I was creating
this picture, I felt like I joined in their
world to live together on the earth. I would
like to save the future of the earth with
those little lives! If each of us looks
at our natural environment with tender eyes,
the earth will be changing to an enriched
planet, I believe," she said.
Erina's painting, along
with other winning entries, will be exhibited
at various venues in Japan and other countries
and the websites of UNEP and Foundation
of Global Peace and Environment (FGPE).
"We are very happy
to hear that an entry from Japan has won
the first prize of Asia and the Pacific
Region, for the first time. Erina Hashimoto,
a 14-year-girl who lives in Osaka, focuses
on the little world of insects in the forest
and expresses how rich it is with lots of
life. Her picture indicates that the natural
ecosystem on our planet is basically sustained
by those little lives and billions of invisible
microbes.
Since FGPE started the
competition in 1991, we found every year
a variety of expressions on the environment
created by children around the world. They
were full of ideas and colors, and showed
serious concerns with dedications to their
homeland and Mother Earth. They always reflected
each time's environmental situations and
results of efforts or neglect of grown-ups.
And now, we are carrying
out the 20th anniversary of competition
and planning to have the commemorative programs,
together with partners UNEP, Bayer and Nikon.
We hope, during the next two decades, we
can find only pictures full of beautiful
nature and life with children's bright hopes
to their own future and the future of our
planet," Tomoko Yano, Secretary General
of FGPE said.
Erina's entry will move
on to the global level, to compete with
entries from other regions - West Asia,
Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean,
Europe and North America. Each region chose
a regional winner and submitted a total
of 1,490 paints to the global selection.
The winners of the global competition will
be announced at the Tunza International
Children's Conference in Bandung, Indonesia
from 26 - 30 September 2011.
"This year's competition
offered children a way to think of actions
to protect our environment and they have
responded overwhelmingly by creatively showing
simple actions we all can take. They have
artfully shown that there are actions we
can take now," said Mr. Young-woo Park,
Regional Director.
Erina wins a US$1,000
cash prize and all-expenses-paid trip for
her and an accompanying adult to the Tunza
International Children Conference in Indonesia
in September 2011.
"We are very proud
of the huge number of entries for our Painting
Competition - a core element of our partnership
with UNEP. The children's paintings are
fascinating artworks with a very clear message
to all of us: Care about this planet! We
must take the concerns and wishes of the
many children from all over the world very
seriously. I can just encourage everybody
to have a look at these impressive paintings",
says Michael Schade, head of Corporate Communications
at
Bayer.
"Worsening of global
environment has become more serious over
the last 20 years. Deforestation has been
greatly increasing every year around the
world, having a serious effect on the life
in the forests. The awarded paintings contain
children's hope that precious forests and
the life in the forests should be sustained.
We expect that people all over the world
will take action collectively to realize
the children's hope.
It is our privilege
to co-sponsor the 20th International Children's
Painting Competition on the Environment,
and we hope that we will continue to support
this competition in future," said Ichiro
Terato, Representative Director, Member
of the board Executive Vice President
Nikon Corporation
The selection of the
regional winner was done by a Jury Committee
made up of UNEP staff, representatives from
Bayer Thai Co. Ltd., Nikon and art students.
Notes to Editors
The regional winners
of the Twentieth International Children's
Painting Competition on the Environment
are being announced on World Environment
Day, 5 June 2011. This year's theme was
Life in the Forests. Children aged 6 - 14
were invited to use their artistic skills
to show the rich biodiversity contained
in the world's forests. This year's painting
competition attracted 606,996 entries from
99 countries, which received more than 12,000
entries from Asia Pacific.
This annual competition
is jointly organized by the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP), the Japan-based
Foundation for Global Peace and Environment
(FGPE), Bayer and Nikon. The painting competition
has been held since 11000 and in that time
over a million entries from children in
over 100 countries have received.
UNEP offices in Bahrain,
Bangkok, Geneva, Panama, Washington DC,
and Nairobi each chose their own regional
winners and submitted a total of 1,490 paintings
to the global selection.
The global winners will
be chosen by a jury comprised of representatives
of the competition organizers. These global
winners will be announced at the Tunza International
Children's Conference in Bandung, Indonesia
from 26 - 30 September 2011.
All regional and global
winners will receive a cash prize (US$ 1000
for the regional winners, US$ 2000 for the
first prize winner) as well as an all-expenses-paid
trip to the Tunza International Children
Conference in Indonesia in September.
A selection of winning
paintings will be shown in exhibitions around
the world. They will also be exhibited online
and will be used for posters, post cards,
calendars, and in publications to raise
awareness of the need to conserve biodiversity.
The International Children's
Painting Competition on the Environment
is part of UNEP's TUNZA strategy for children
and youth. TUNZA is a word in Kiswahili
that means to "treat with care".
The programme aims to increase young people's
involvement in environmental issues through
environmental activities such as Plant for
the Planet, International Conferences and
Global Youth Gatherings.
