Enter Mangrove Photography Awards 2025
Enter the competition
The Mangroves Photography Awards is now open for entries until May 19th, 2025. Entry is free and open to all photographers around the world, of any age and level.
Find all the details on how to enter your photos in the section on the right, and submit your images. For additional information, check the FAQs at the bottom of the page.
You can submit a total of 12 photos to the Mangrove Photography Awards, across multiple categories.
You can enter into as many categories as you wish.
You can enter up to 6 photos per submission form.
Up to 6 photos can be entered across the five single-image categories; Wildlife, Landscape, People, Threats, and Underwater.
For the Conservation Stories portfolio category, you must submit a series of 6 images.
All submissions must be photographs (accepted file types: JPG, PNG, or TIFFS).
The maximum file size per image is 4MB. Submissions should be in high resolution.
Submissions must be free of borders, watermarks, or signatures.
Entries must be received by 11:59 pm BST on 19th May 2025 (“the Closing Date”).
All submissions must have been created by the photographer entering.
Entrants 23 years of age or younger on 26th July 2025 will automatically enter the Young Mangrove Photographer of the Year Award.
Images that have received an award in a previous Mangrove Photography Awards should NOT be entered.
Manipulation of the natural world is NOT acceptable.
Your entries must report on the natural world in a way that is creative, honest and ethical:
All entrants must confirm that all images were taken naturally, without interference with wildlife or damage to the environment.
Entries must not deceive the viewer or attempt to disguise and/or misrepresent the reality of nature.
Caption information supplied with submissions must be complete, true and accurate.
You must not do anything to injure or distress an animal or damage its habitat in an attempt to secure a photograph. This includes flying (or flying a drone) too low or noisily over an animal and taking photographs at nests using wide angle lenses (telephoto lenses are permitted). An animal’s welfare must always come first.
You are responsible for ensuring full compliance with any applicable national or international legislation, including drone regulations, and for securing any relevant permits. For human portraits, this includes obtaining the subject’s permission.
Single Image Entry
- Wildlife
- People
- Landscape
- Underwater
- Threats
Portfolio Entry
- Conservation Stories
Award Categories
Mangrove Photography Awards features six categories, each designed to welcome contributions from photographers of all levels. Some categories have a subcategory to help guide entries. With a broad focus, the Awards aim to be as inclusive as possible, while encouraging bold, impactful imagery.
Wildlife
Celebrating animals in mangroves worldwide, above the waterline. This includes images of unique animal behavior in trees and on land, rarely seen species, and microscale organisms, that convey the vital connection between mangroves and their inhabitants.
- Birds
- Mammals
- Other Species
People
Revealing intimate relationships between people and mangrove forests. This includes images illustrating traditional connections with coastal communities and positive conservation efforts.
- Livelihoods
- Conservation & Restoration
Landscapes
Captivating images exploring the diversity of the globe’s mangroves, from expansive landscapes to the detail of individual flora. Images may include unseen angles, patterns, close-ups, and creative perspectives.
- From the Air
- On the Ground
- Black and White
Threats
Investigating the current issues that threaten our coastal ecosystems. This includes human impact and extreme natural events that are causing increasing pressure on these vital forests.
Underwater
Showcasing the hidden world of mangroves below the water line, uncovering the diversity of aquatic life. Split-shots may be submitted to expose relationships with other elements of mangrove ecosystems.
Conservation Stories
Portfolio image category showcasing a long-held commitment to mangrove conservation through a striking collection of six images. A total of six images must be submitted. Submissions may include images taken at any time during the photographer’s career, including award-winning images, and should prioritize emotional storytelling.
Frequently Asked Questions
We appoint a panel of judges and a chair to evaluate all entries. Each submission is reviewed anonymously. The judging consists of two rounds, with the final round including an authenticity check to ensure entries adhere to Mangrove Photography Awards rules and ethical standards.
The panel will be looking for originality, narrative, and ethical practice. Therefore, the panel will prioritize images that have not already been awarded (winner, runner-up, commended, honourable mention, etc) in other similar international competitions.
All Category Winners are considered for the Mangrove Photographer of the Year grand title.
The Competition reserves the right to award images in a category they were not originally submitted in. This will happen at the discretion of the judges for images they feel are particularly suited to an alternative category.
All decisions by the judges will be final and binding.
Post-processing of images IS acceptable but must remain truthful to the original experience. Editing should not deceive the viewer, misrepresent the reality, or omit elements of the natural world. All photos should accurately reflect the subject matter and the scene as it originally appeared. Finalists may be required to provide RAW files or original untouched JPEGS.
Winners will be announced on 26th July, 2025 on World Mangrove Day.
- Overall winner: one overall winner will be selected across all categories and awarded the grand prize of $750 cash and the title of Mangrove Photographer of the Year.
- Category awards: one winner of each category or subcategory will be selected. Winners will be awarded $500 cash.
- Young Mangrove Photographer of the Year: one overall winner will be selected across all categories and awarded the grand prize of $250 cash and the title of Young Mangrove Photographer of the Year.
- Finalists: up to six finalists in each single-image category and subcategory, will receive a Mangrove Photography Awards Certificate of Recognition.
- People’s Choice Award: one overall winner will be voted for members of the public on Instagram and awarded $250 cash.
- The Emirates Award: one overall winner will be selected across all categories by our panel of judges and regional partner, Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi. The winner will be awarded $500 cash.
- The Arabian Gulf Award: One overall winner will be selected across all categories by our panel of judges and regional partner, Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi. The winner will be awarded $500 cash.
Many media publications and conservation partners will showcase the results of this competition and benefit the photographers with high profile exposure for their talents. Winners are regularly published in BBC News, The Guardian, BBC Wildlife Magazine as well as other photography magazines.
Sure, please read the T&Cs here.
