Scottish Landscape - Urban Greenspace Category

1st: Anthony Robson - Paved Paradise, Put Up a Parking Lot

© Anthony Robson - Paved Paradise, Put Up a Parking Lot

Anthony said: "I can’t tell you how much it means to win this category. Oh, okay, I’ll try. When I go to work in Edinburgh, I often bring a camera along, escaping the desk at lunchtimes to wander and relax. I can now easily answer the ‘why’ questions from my colleagues and will be raising a glass to their scepticism!

"There’s an irony in winning with a slightly dystopian image, but it suits the area where this was shot. I work in a business park on the west side of Edinburgh and used to wander around what most thought of as scrubland, but in which I found skylarks, hunting kestrels, and furtive stoats. That area succumbed to further development, but covid not only brought a lot of that to a stop (sadly not before it had driven the wildlife away), it also left a lot of vacant office space. And vacant offices don’t need vast car parks.

"On one of my regular wanders past the tarmac wasteland, slowly being reclaimed by moss in the years since lockdown, I found this strange two-level parking area. In the middle was a bizarre attempt at planting trees, which passed through the upper level. As soon as I entered the lower level, the trees seemingly framed by the concrete structure, Joni Mitchell’s Big Yellow Taxi sprung immediately to mind. Not only had they paved an unloved paradise to put up a parking lot, but the framing made it look like the trees had been put in a tree museum. I hoped this image could be a message that our urban greenspaces need to be protected for our well-being, and as oases (but preferably corridors) for wildlife. We need to be better than this, before the tree museum becomes a reality."

2nd: Nicky Goodfellow - Winter has Arrived. Perth

© Nicky Goodfellow - Winter has Arrived

3rd: Tom Manley - Dear Green City. Glasgow

© Tom Manley - Dear Green City

Shortlisted:

Grant Bulloch
Brian Doyle
Nicky Goodfellow
George Robertson
Ian Talboys
Allan Wright



Environmental category
Natural Abstract category
Scottish Botanical category
Scottish Landscape - The Land category
Scottish Landscape - Sea & Coast category
Scottish Landscape - Urban Greenspace category
Scottish Wildlife Behaviour category
Scottish Wildlife Portrait category
Junior category
Student category
Scottish Nature Video Award 2024
Favourite Scottish Nature Photography Book 2024