January 28, 2010

Environment Canada’s 2010 IYB Nature Matters! Contest

Celebrate the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity with
Environment Canada’s 2010 IYB Nature Matters! Contest

The United Nations General Assembly declared 2010 to be the International Year of
Biodiversity (IYB), to help raise awareness of the importance of biodiversity all over the
world. Part of Environment Canada’s celebration of IYB is the national Nature Matters!
Contest.

From January 28 to February 28, 2010, we are inviting Canadians between the ages of 9
and 35 to submit written or video essays that answer the following question:

“Why is nature important to you?”

AWARDS:
One grand-prize winner and two runners-up will be selected from each age group (9–13,
14–19, and 20–35 years) in each of the two categories—video and written:

• The six (6) grand-prize winners will be invited to Ottawa to attend the Grand Reopening
  Event of the Canadian Museum of Nature, on International Biodiversity Day,
  May 22, 2010, where their achievement will be announced.
• All grand-prize winning written and video essays will be displayed for Canadian and
  international visitors at the Biosphère in Montreal during 2010.
• Grand-prize winning and runner-up essays will be published on the website of the
  Canadian Biodiversity Information Network, a shared public resource of our federal,
  provincial, and territorial governments.
• Also, grand-prize winning and runner-up essays will be announced through
  Environment Canada's network of national education and environment
  organizations, reaching well over one million people.
  

For full contest details, please visit here .

The contest is open only to Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada. Submissions will be accepted in either official language. Contest opens on January 28 at 12:00 (noon) Eastern Standard Time. Contest entries must be received by February 28 at 23:59 Eastern Standard Time.