Welcome to our 6th World Mangrove Day! Once again as a celebration of World Mangrove Day we are harnessing the power of photography to raise awareness of mangrove forests and we are proud to share these amazing photos with you! This incredible collection of images celebrates the work of all our mangrove photographers. Our 2020 contest has been our most exciting yet, with entries from all over the world showing the true beauty and importance of mangrove ecosystems. Come and view our biggest mangrove online exhibition ever.
We were inspired this year by the bold commitments being made across the world for a sustainable future and with our four brand new categories we hope to inspire action for Nature. Our categories highlight mangrove wildlife, communities, conservation, and the threats that mangrove forests are facing. By putting the spotlight on these areas, we aim to show the importance of mangroves and why we so vitally need to preserve and restore them.
We hope you enjoy viewing the images as much as we enjoyed receiving them. We cannot thank you enough, for an incredible World Mangrove Day!
WAYS YOU CAN ACT
CLICK TO MEET OUR JUDGES
AND SHARE TO MAKE SOME NOISE!
PARTNERS OFFERING PRIZES
SEE ENTRY CATEGORIES BELOW
MANGROVES & WILDLIFE
Mangroves support rich biodiversity and are home to an incredible array of marine and terrestrial species. Numerous marine species, including fish and shrimp, use mangroves as nurseries during early life stages. These coastal ecosystems are prime nesting and resting sites for hundreds of bird species, including herons, kingfishers and hummingbirds. They also support iconic and endangered species such as the Bengal tiger, Manatees, the Proboscis Monkey and Fishing cats. We want to highlight important mangrove regions with their fabulous and even unexpected wildlife that are found within the forest.
MANGROVES & COMMUNITIES
We want to celebrate the intimate relationships between coastal communities and their mangrove forests; providing food, medicines, tannins, fuel wood, charcoal and construction materials. Coastal communities rely on their mangroves for yielding vast numbers of fish, crabs, shrimps and molluscs. Nearly half the global population lives within 100 km of the sea, and an estimated 210 million people live near mangroves in tropical regions and depend on them for food. For visitors, mangroves offer great opportunities for wildlife viewing, bird watching and other recreational activities such as boat tours, fishing and kayaking.
MANGROVES & THREATS
These biologically diverse ecosystems are critical habitats linking land and sea and are essential for the health of our planet. While they cover only 0.1% of the earth’s land surface, mangroves are one of our planet’s most powerful tools to help solve environmental emergencies. These unique forests help to mitigate climate breakdown by keeping our oceans clean and storing huge amounts of carbon in their rich soils, purifying the air we breathe, and protecting coastal communities from storms and tsunamis. But they are still disappearing at an alarming rate. We want your help to expose areas of mangrove destruction and threats, so that action can be taken.
MANGROVES & CONSERVATION
While mangrove forests continue to decline across the globe, there are many dedicated people working to reverse the loss of these critically important ecosystems. There are many inspiring stories of mangrove conservation and restoration happening on coastlines around the world. We want to celebrate those nurturing nature and shine a light on these positive communities and their projects. We invite you to choose three photos showing one conservation project in this portfolio category.