15 Stunning Winners From The Nature Conservancy Photo Contest 2021 That Have Just Been Announced

The Nature Conservancy photo contest isn’t just about giving awards to the best photo, it’s also about getting an important message across- love and conserve nature. Nature doesn’t need us as much as we need it, and it’s our responsibility to put efforts to conserve our environment.

#1 Grand Prize: Anup Shah, UK

Image source: The Nature Conservancy

“A female western lowland gorilla, Malui, walks through a cloud of butterflies she has disturbed in Bai Hokou, Dzanga Sangha special dense forest reserve, Central African Republic. ‘I like photos that keep dragging you in. The face. Tolerance or bliss. It’s really hard to tell and the insects draw you there,’ said the celebrity judge Ben Folds.”

Photograph: Anup Shah

#2 Wildlife, First Place: Buddhilini De Soyza, Australia

Image source: The Nature Conservancy

“Incessant rains in the Masai Mara national reserve in Kenya have caused the the Talek river to flood. This group of five male cheetahs, who received the nickname ‘Tano Bora’ ( the fast five), were looking to cross this river in terrifyingly powerful currents. ‘It seemed a task doomed to failure and we were delighted when they made it to the other side,’ De Soyza said. ‘This was a timely reminder of the damage wreaked by human induced climate change.’”

Photograph: Buddhilini de Soyza

#3 People And Nature, First Place: Alain Schroeder, Belgium

Image source: The Nature Conservancy

“Orangutans in Indonesia are under threat from the ongoing depletion of the rainforest due to palm oil plantations, logging, mining, hunting. This photograph shows a team of rescue workers preparing Brenda, a female orangutan who is estimated to be three months old as she still has no teeth, for surgery.”

Photograph: Alain Schroeder

#4 Landscape, First Place: Daniel De Granville Manço, Brazil

Image source: The Nature Conservancy

“The carcass of a Pantanal alligator in the dry soil on the banks of the Transpantaneira highway, municipality of Poconé (Mato Grosso). The photo was taken with a drone on 4 October 2020, at the height of the droughts that hit the Pantanal that year.”

Photograph: Daniel De Granville

#5 Water, First Place: Kazi Arifujjaman, Bangladesh

Image source: The Nature Conservancy

“Arifujjaman often explores water in his work.”

Photograph: Kazi

#6 Wildlife, Second Place: Mateusz Piesiak, Poland

Image source: The Nature Conservancy

“A large sunflower field, which could not be mowed this year due to the water level, attracted thousands of bird species this winter, mostly greenfinches, goldfinches and ramblings.”

Photograph: Mateusz Piesiak

#7 Landscape, Second Place: Denis Ferreira Netto, Brazil

Image source: The Nature Conservancy

“‘In a helicopter flight through the sea mountain range, I came across this white cloud cover, which resulted in this magnificent image that resembles the head of a dinosaur,’ the photographer said.”

Photograph: Denis Ferreira

#8 Water, Second Place: Joram Mennes, Mexico

Image source: The Nature Conservancy

“Three levels of leisure: swimmers, freedivers and divers enjoy their respective sport and recreational activities in a fresh water mass known locally as the Cenotes.”

Photograph: Joram Mennes

#9 People And Nature, Second Place: Tom Overall, Australia

Image source: The Nature Conservancy

“A guide in the Sahara desert endures a sand storm.”

Photograph: Tom Overall

#10 Wildlife, Third Place: Viktor Vrbovský, Czech Republic

Image source: The Nature Conservancy

“A pike tries to eat a large perch. “How did this end? I don’t know. The situation didn’t change much in an hour,’ Vrbovsky said. ‘I had to emerge because I was running out of air.’”

Photograph: Viktor Vrbovský

#11 Water, Third Place: Man Wai Wong, Hong Kong

Image source: The Nature Conservancy

“The photo was taken in the winter of 2019 in Iceland.”

Photograph: Man Wai Wong

#12 Landscape, Third Place: Jassen Todorov, US

Image source: The Nature Conservancy

“‘If you have flown into San Francisco international airport, you may have seen these colourful salt ponds over the bay,’ Todorov said. ‘I have photographed them numerous times, as the colours and patterns constantly change thanks to microorganisms and salinity. This aerial image was taken while flying my plane.’”

Photograph: Jassen Todorov

#13 People And Nature, Third Place, Sebnem Coskun, Turkey

Image source: The Nature Conservancy

“‘Covid-19 wastes’ are a new danger to aquatic life. According to a World Wildlife Fund report, an equivalent to 33,880 plastic bottles is being mixed into the Mediterranean Sea per minute, with waste washing up on the shores of Italy and Turkey.”

Photograph: Şebnem Coşkun

#14 People’s Choice Award: Prathamesh Ghadekar, India

Image source: The Nature Conservancy

“Just before monsoon, fireflies congregate in certain regions of India. Sometimes milllions of these insects can be found on a few special trees like this one. Thirty-two photographs of this tree were taken and later stacked in Adobe Photoshop, creating this image.”

Photograph: Prathamesh

#15 People And Nature, Honorable Mention: Minqiang Lu, China

Image source: The Nature Conservancy