Planet Ark announces winners of national ‘Snap Some Wood’ photo competition

Photographs of a former asylum in Queensland, a picturesque jetty in Albany and a magical Tasmanian gorge have been named winners of Planet Ark’s national photography competition ‘Snap Some Wood’.
The competition is an initiative of Planet Ark’s ‘Make It Wood – Do Your World Some Good’ campaign, which promotes the environmental benefits of using responsibly sourced wood as a building material. Entrants were asked to submit a photo showing the versatility or beauty of wood.
One of the top spots was awarded to a photograph of former asylum Wolston Park, near Brisbane, captured by Chez Watts.
Parts of Wolston Park were built in 1865; a testament to wood’s resilience and strength. As a result of wood’s unique capacity to store carbon, this site has been keeping carbon out of the atmosphere ever since. It will continue to store carbon for its lifetime, helping to address climate change.
The asylum at Wolston Park, named Woogaroo, was in use from the 1860s until the 1950s to house mentally ill and disabled patients. At the time it was the largest facility of its kind.
“Planet Ark is running this campaign to raise awareness of the environmental benefits of using responsibly sourced wood to make furniture or construct buildings and landmarks,” said Make it Wood Campaign Manager Chris Philpot.
“Although most people are aware that trees release oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide as they grow, many don’t realise that the carbon remains locked up in the wood even after it is harvested. Up to 50% of wood’s dry weight is made up of carbon, making wood unique amongst materials for storing rather than emitting carbon.”
Planet Ark is urging everybody to choose responsibly sourced wood when building, renovating or choosing furniture. As the carbon benefits of wood products are based upon the trees being responsibly harvested, consumers need to look for wood that is independently certified by schemes such as Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) to ensure high conservation value forests are protected.