Winners of the annual Mangrove Photography Awards: See the photographs

In celebration of World Mangrove Day on July 26, the U.S.-based Mangrove Action Project (MAP) has introduced the winners of its twelfth annual pictures awards.

“Mangroves are the underdog. They will never be as glamorous as the Amazon rainforest or coral reefs. But through photography we can change that narrative, and intrigue people by showing them their beauty, diversity and fragility,” Leo Thom, artistic director with MAP informed Mongabay in an electronic mail.

Mangroves cowl simply 0.1% of the floor of the Earth however are important ecosystems; they stabilize coastlines and supply habitat for various wildlife together with fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds, primates and, even, large cats resembling tigers. Mangroves additionally retailer three to five occasions extra carbon per acre than tropical forests.

Scientists estimate that greater than half of all mangrove ecosystems are susceptible to collapse by 2050, largely from sea-level rise and extreme storms related to local weather change.

Gaurav Patil/Mangrove Photography Awards (MPA)

 The 2026 total successful {photograph} options one other risk to mangroves — ghost nets, fishing nets which can be discarded or misplaced at sea. This picture was taken close to Nandgaon village, south of Mumbai, India. At sea, such fishing gear can entangle wildlife together with sea turtles, birds and whales. Less understood is how problematic ghost nets are for mangroves.

“I have been watching ghost nets getting trapped in mangroves for the last several years,” photographer Gaurav Patil from India, mentioned in a press launch.

Michol Sanchez/MPA

A “highly commended” picture within the threats class of the competition reveals how mangroves mendacity on the interface of land and sea can develop into repositories for plastic from each sources. This mangrove within the Philippines is “a portrait of neglect, and a warning: nature can endure much, but not indefinitely,” the discharge mentioned.

Garry Lotulung/MPA

A “highly commended” portfolio of photographs titled “Encircled by the Sea,” options photos of a group and mangrove in Central Java, Indonesia, which were flooded by sea degree rise.

Garry Lotulung/MPA

One of the photographs within the sequence highlights Pasijah, a resident who refused to go away when her group flooded, and has spent the final 20 years planting mangroves, roughly 15,000 seedlings per yr.

Kerron Noel/MAP

The class for “wildlife” images showcases the extraordinary range of wildlife that rely upon mangroves, together with a silky anteater (Cyclopes didactylus) taking a mangrove nap within the Caroni Bird Sanctuary, Caroni Swamp on the west coast of Trinidad.

Raj Hassanaly/MPA

Another picture encompasses a lemur perched in a mangrove in Madagascar. At least 23 species of lemurs rely upon mangroves in Madagascar.

Ashok Behera/MPA

Two mudskippers engaged in a territorial show on the Sundarbans’ tidal flats in India was a “highly commended” picture.

Avijit Ghorai/MPA

Another “highly commended” picture spotlights a juvenile royal Bengal tiger in India’s Sundarbans, a part of the world’s largest contiguous mangrove forest.

Banner picture of child blacktip sharks in a mangrove nursery off Santa Cruz Island within the U.S. is a part of a portfolio sequence. Image courtesy of Pelayo Salinas de León/MPA.