James Kon
Winners of the Brunei Wildlife Photography Challenge (BWPC) 2022 received prizes in a ceremony held at Setia Pahlawan Hall of the Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism (MPRT) building yesterday.
Permanent Secretary at the MPRT Hajah Tutiaty binti Haji Abdul Wahab was the guest of honour.
Organised by MPRT through the Forestry Department with Syarikat Yi An Photo Studio, BWPC ran from March 3 to June 4 in conjunction of World Wildlife Day 2022.
Abdul Hamid bin Haji Abdul Rahman emerged as the winner in the Bird category with 81 points followed by Asmali bin Asli who scored 77.5 points. Ian Anthony Echual came in third with a score of 73.5 points.
Haji Muhammad Fauzan bin Haji Jamahat won the Reptile category with 73.5 points. Haji Mohamed Ismail bin Haji Metussin came in second place with the score of 55.5 points and third place went to Haji Muhammad Fauzan bin Haji Jamahat with 50 points.
In the Mammal category, Markim bin Haji Rahman took first place with 70 points and Ricardo Jr Agrano Portuguez came in second place with the score of 66.5.
Close behind in third place went to Haji Rusdi bin Haji Abdul Latif with 66 points.
Abdul Hamid also grabbed home first and second place prize for the Video Clip category and Ricardo Jr Agrano Portuguez took third place.
In the Special categories, the honour of Best Wildlife Photographer 2022 went to Haji Muhammad Fauzan.
The award for submitting the most species in the competition went to Chong Sey Lo who submitted 199 species, while the award for the participant who submitted the most unique (rare) species went to Ian Anthony Echual.
Chairperson of the event Acting Deputy Permanent Secretary II at the MPRT Noralinda binti Haji Ibrahim said, “Brunei Darussalam is blessed to have 72 per cent of its total land areas still forested with most of it still unexplored and in pristine condition.”
She added, “Our forest resources, and the biodiversity within, have the potential to provide a wide range of forest goods and services that would accommodate a wide range of needs such as research and development, education and public awareness which support the goals of Brunei Vision 2035.”
The ceremony concluded with the guest of honour touring the display of the winner’s photographs as well as the works of the top 10 photographs in each category.
