As part of its upcoming open doors day on September 22, Bulgarian National Television (BNT) has announced a contest for the public at large to photograph or take a short video of what it considers the most beautiful place in Bulgaria.

This was immediately countered by environmental coalition To Sustain the Nature, which came up with its own contest, named The Most Beautiful Place in Bulgaria That I Want to Preserve.

The BNT competition has a submission deadline of August 31 2008; the To Sustain the Nature one has none.

Photos for the BNT event can be sent to the television's headquarters at 29 San Stefano Str, Sofia, attention “Ден на отворените врати” (Day of Open Doors), or via e-mail to welcome@bnt.bg. The photographs should be of good digital quality, while video clips must be digital and are limited to one minute in length; both mobile phone and camera images are accepted.

For the To Sustain the Nature contest, photos can be sent to pictures@forthenature.org. Participants are advised to only submit photos of beautiful places that are already undergoing destruction from commercial interests. Acceptable locations are Rila Mountain, the Rhodopes, Irakli, Karadere, Kaliakra and Strandja. Places that are not yet under threat are dissuaded, so as to not give new ideas for future building sites.

Also accepted are places that have already been devastated in part or in whole, like the southern Black Sea coast or partially deforested areas.

Participants are encouraged to submit a few words along with their photo(s), about why the site in question should be preserved in its natural environmental state. The photos will be uploaded on To Sustain the Nature's website, with the goal of eventually creating a travelling exhibition of the submissions.