SEAVIEW CUTTLEFISH AMONGST ISLAND BIOSPHERE IMAGES IN FINLAND EXHIBITION

4 Isle of Wight photographers have had their work featured in an exhibition celebrating a Finnish UNESCO Biosphere Reserve’s 30th anniversary and connections with Biosphere Reserves like the Isle of Wight all over the world. A cuttlefish from Seaview, taken by local marine photographer Theo Vickers, is now on display in the Korpoström Research Station and Archipelago Centre on the island of Korppoo in Finland, part of the Archipelago Sea Area Biosphere Reserve. It is joined by a White-tailed Sea Eagle being apparently photobombed by a Grey Seal in a lucky capture by Alan Burch, and a sunset view of St Catherine’s Down and coastal cliffs by Martha Henson. For a sense of our Biosphere communities at work, there are 2 images by Maria Bell – 1 features nature-friendly farmer Francesca Cooper inspecting the herd of Belted Galloway cows she manages with Hollie Fallick on the Nunwell Home Farm estate. The other shows volunteers collecting seagrass seeds as part of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust seagrass meadow restoration work.

The Isle of Wight Biosphere Reserve is featured alongside other members of the World Network of Island and Coastal Biosphere Reserves (WNICBR) including West Estonian Archipelago (Estonia), Nordhordland (Norway), Lanzarote (Spain), Menorca (Spain), Kiunga (Kenya), Great Sandy (Australia), Palawan (Philippines), Cat Ba (Vietnam) and Jeju (Korea). Sally Chaucer, the international coordinator for the IW Biosphere Steering Committee, attended the last meeting of the WNICBR Network in Australia in September 2023, making connections with biospheres in similar coastal or island settings leading to the Isle of Wight’s contribution in the Finnish exhibition.