From the Accursed Mountains to Bali’s beaches, this photo prize captures the planet in flux

From a rhino astatine nan extremity of a rainbow to nan molten beforehand statement of a wildfire, nan shortlist for Earth Photo 2025 is afloat of riveting biology stories that request to beryllium told.

The world photography and movie competition, created by nan UK’s Royal Geographical Society, Forestry England and ocular creation consultancy Parker Harris successful 2018, received complete 1,500 submissions from 250 ‘lens artists’ successful its seventh year.

40 photographers and filmmakers were selected by a assemblage of experts, who now person nan unenviable task of choosing a victor from nan 203-strong postulation of “urgent, poetic and often unexpected stories”.

“These stories not only item nan pressing issues of climate change, specified arsenic disappearing habitats, polluted rivers, and climate-induced displacement, but besides observe quality ingenuity, resilience, and nan heavy connections betwixt group and their environments,” according to a connection from nan competition.

Here are 7 of our favourites, earlier a victor is selected and The Earth Photo 2025 accumulation launches astatine nan Royal Geographical Society from 17 June - 20 August.

7. ‘Pandamonium’ successful China

Donning a panda suit astatine Wolong’s Hetaoping centre successful Sichuan Province is conscionable 1 of galore things that Ami Vitale has done to embody her belief successful “living nan story”.

The National Geographic photographer, writer and filmmaker has travelled to much than 100 countries, capturing nan stories of individuals surviving connected nan frontlines of ambiance alteration and war, “who garbage to fto cataclysm specify their futures”.

At nan Chinese panda centre, cubs are raised pinch minimal quality contact, including uncommon hands-on checkups, successful hopes of fostering skills for life successful nan wild. 

In ‘A Hopeful Sign’, above, Vitale snapped a achromatic rhino named Bruno, peacefully resting beneath a rainbow astatine Ol Pejeta Conservancy successful Kenya. 

6. Olive character farming successful nan limelight

For complete a decade, Spanish-born creator Berta De La Rosa has dedicated herself to a task called ‘Getsemaní’, which advocates for nan protection of Mediterranean traditions done a attraction connected nan oliva tree.

“My ngo pinch this lifelong project, rooted successful biology sustainability, is to springiness a sound done nan fig of nan oliva character - arsenic a cosmopolitan tree, a character of dream - to each our trees,” she says. 

“And by doing so, I dream to safeguard our landscapes and reinstate nan dignity of cultivation labour.”

5. The past group of nan Accursed Mountains

Chiara Fabbro is an Italian documentary photographer based successful London, focusing connected migration, displacement, and quality connection.

In this series, she turns her lens connected what whitethorn beryllium nan last procreation of shepherds surviving successful nan distant highlands of nan Accursed Mountains, a melodramatic scope spanning Albania, Kosovo, and Montenegro. 

Their accepted measurement of life is threatened by climate-driven drought - forcing flocks to recreation further - and a younger procreation turning distant from distant upland life.

4. ‘Heataly’: Italy nether ambiance change

A cross-country skis way winds done a wholly snow-free forest. Today, 90 per cent of Italy’s skis slopes trust connected artificial snowmaking systems, consuming an estimated 96,840,000 cubic metres of h2o annually - nan balanced of a metropolis of 1 cardinal people.

That’s 1 facet of nan measurement world heating is manifesting successful Italy, a taxable Italian documentary photographer Filippo Ferraro explores done his ‘Heataly’ project.

3. Waterlines successful nan Amazon

A Ticuna man is dwarfed by a 500-year-old Ceiba character successful nan Peruvian Amazon rainforest successful this photograph by Colombian photographer and technologist Mateo Borrero.

On nan look of it, nan image seems simply to exemplify nan smallness of man beside a earthy giant. But a horizontal shadow, astatine eye-level pinch nan man, tells a deeper story. 

The character bears a h2o statement that marks nan emblematic tallness of nan stream during nan rainy season, which usually peaks betwixt April and May. Taken successful May 2024, nan photograph shows nan grade of past year’s drought owed to ambiance change.

2. An infrared look astatine Iceland’s dwindling forests

Iceland, erstwhile 40 per cent forested, coming has only astir 1.5 per cent wood cover. Restoration efforts are captious to nan country’s extremity of achieving c neutrality by 2040, but look aggregate challenges - including from nan increasing demands of tourism. 

Tourism successful Iceland has skyrocketed successful nan past decade, observes photographer and head Jussi Hellsten, but emissions from travel are not counted successful nationalist inventories nether nan Kyoto Protocol, complicating nan country’s ambiance efforts. 

“Since 2021, I person documented nan intersection of tourism and reforestation successful Iceland utilizing integer infrared photography, a instrumentality commonly employed to measure wood health,” he explains. 

“The method reveals hidden aspects of nan landscape,” he says. And, arsenic successful this photo, besides highlights nan basal domiciled of volunteers. Millions of character seedlings are grown annually astatine nurseries for illustration Kvistari, pictured here.

1. Plastic discarded washing up connected Bali beaches

In January 2025, Bali’s beaches were inundated pinch waves of integrative pollution. Each year, nan rainy play flushes Indonesia's polluted rivers, depositing millions of tonnes of integrative discarded into nan oceans, which past washes up on nan country's coastlines. 

Although these integrative waves are an yearly occurrence, 2025 has been called "the worst twelvemonth yet" by locals.

Beijing-based British photographer and filmmaker Sean Gallagher travelled to Indonesia to archive this unfolding plastic crisis. His bid portrays section Indonesians engaged successful organization efforts to cleanable nan country’s polluted beaches, rivers, and mangroves.