Celebrations across the country are being held this Earth Day, April 22, in honour of the 10th annual Robert Bateman Get To Know Contest and to celebrate the International Year of Biodiversity. The Premier launch event is taking place at the Canadian Museum of Nature where Alan Bateman, son of renowned wildlife artist Robert Bateman will dedicate a Tree to his father who will also be turning 80 this May.

Thirty students from the Robert Bateman Public School will attend the tree dedication ceremony. The students will then take a tour of the museum’s Mammal Gallery, where they will see many of Canada’s iconic wildlife species up close in beautiful diorama displays and partake in various activities such as wildlife sketching with Alan Bateman.

Nature Canada has been supporting the Robert Bateman Get To Know Contest for the past seven years and is proud to be a premier partner for the second year in a row. This year we have teamed up, the Canadian Museum of Nature, Wildlife Habitat Canada, the Canadian Wildlife Federation and the Robert Bateman Public School for the 2010 launch event.

Over the last decade, the contest has received tens of thousands of nature-themed art and writing entries. The 2010 contest theme is “Celebrate Biodiversity.”

Our planet is home to a dizzying array of wonderful, mysterious life forms and the Get to Know Program hopes youth who participate in this contest will discover a sense of connection with the natural world. Exploring the wild plants and animals in your own neighbourhood can provide a greater appreciation of the beauties of nature while you connect, create and celebrate nature. Parks, zoos, museums, and aquariums are also great places to connect with nature.

Winners of this year’s Get to Know Contest will have the chance to receive fantastic prizes such as gifts from Scholastic, Panasonic, Opus Framing and Art Supplies and cash prizes (NEW for 2010!). Your artwork will be featured on Canada’s Youth Wildlife Habitat Conservation Stamp and the 2011 Get to Know Contest Calendar.

We support this contest because it helps achieve a very important goal: connecting young people to the natural world. As young people explore the natural world, they gain a greater understanding of its beauty, its gifts, and its fragility. It also helps you to explore your own creativity, and what better source is there for artistic inspiration than nature?

The contest runs until May 28, 2010. Visit www.gettoknow.ca/en/kids/contest/ for more information and to submit your entry.

Photo: Alan Bateman and family plant the tree dedicated to his father, Robert Bateman, at the Canadian Museum of Nature.