The threat to bio diversity due to rapid urbanisation has called for unique measures to draw attention to the crises.

Tree of the Year, a photography competition, which was first organised in the Czech Republic, in 2011, has been drawing attention to trees that hold a prominent place in the growing urban landscape. This year, the lone survivor, a photograph of a Peepal Tree by Ashin Poudel, taken in Kamaretaar, Madhyapur Thimi, has won the Asian Tree of the Year 2018. The winner was jointly announced by Janez Potochnik, former EU Commissioner for the Environment, and the CEO of Carbon Consulting Company Sanith de Silvia Wijeyerante, amid a function last week, held in Brussels, Belgium.

The top three winners of the Tree of the Year Nepal, organised in February of this year, were selected to compete with photographs from Malaysia, Singapore, Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Brunei. The winning tree, which is on the brink of destruction at a sand mining site in Bhaktapur, was selected by a team of professional photographers and creative heads.

“Being a part of this competition has made me conscious of the nature and trees around me,” Poudel said upon winning the competition, “I hope [the photos] will make people aware of the biodiversity and motivate them to conserve in the coming years.”

While the European edition of the competition had kicked off in 2011, the Asian version started last year, and Nepal has been able to grab the first position in both years. Last year, Pranay Manandhar had received the first prize for his photograph titled Great Survivors.