Mangrove forests: Photography winners show beauty of ecosystems

Musfiqur Rahman has been named overall winner of this year’s Mangrove Photography Awards, for his image of a wild honey gatherer subduing giant honeybees with smoke, in Bangladesh.

Run by the Mangrove Action Project, the competition – now in its seventh year – aims to show the relationships between wildlife, coastal communities and mangrove forests, as well as the fragility of these unique ecosystems, both above and below the waterline.

Rahman’s winning image, A Brave Livelihood, was selected from more than 1,300 entries from 65 countries.

“Indigenous Mowal honey gatherers, protected by Bonbibi, the forest goddess, must evade the dangers (Bengal tigers and saltwater crocodiles) lurking in the mangroves,” says Rahman.

“This ancient tradition and sustainable relationship between people and the mangrove forest takes place in the Sundarbans in Bangladesh, and also India.”

Mangroves are an important protection against climate change, with one acre (4,000 sq m) of mangrove forest absorbing nearly the same amount of carbon dioxide as an acre of Amazon rainforest.

The forests also protect coastlines from eroding as intense storms grow more frequent.

“Today, less than half the world’s original mangrove forest cover remains,” says competition judge Robert Irwin.

“It has never been more important to promote the conservation of these fragile ecosystems through inspiring photography.”

Here is a selection of winning images from six competition categories, with descriptions by the photographers.

The sun sets on a stretch of coastline after a mangrove restoration and beach clean took place within the local community.

Enchanted by the mangroves during a kayaking trip, we put the drone up to get a different perspective to reveal the perfectly calm blue water between the mangroves.

As climate change and sea level rise threaten the future of the Sundarbans, building dams and mangrove beds is becoming one of the last hopes for the people here.

Most of the mangroves along UAE’s coastline are found in Abu Dhabi, acting as a “green lung” for the city.

A peaceful early morning moment at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in Florida.

The Milky Way shining above a mangrove tree at Mersing Beach, Pulau Mawar, Malaysia, an area only accessible by foot at low tide.

After four days of tracking the elusive Bengal tiger, we were finally able to predict where this individual might cross a creek.

The two mudskippers were stunned during a fight for territory, by a playful dancing individual.

These amphibious fish live in mudflats and connected mangrove ecosystems.

The green sea turtle is taking shelter in the mangroves.

Green turtles are born on beaches, grow up in the open ocean, eat seagrass and hide in mangroves and coral reefs.

Protecting these ecosystems is essential in protecting these species.

A rare encounter with a sargassum frogfish out of its natural habitat.

The frogfish is normally associated with sargassum seaweed, floating and travelling on the algae for thousands of miles from the Atlantic Ocean.

Mangrove habitats are crucial for many different sea creatures, including the fascinating and colourful upside-down jellyfish.

The plastic problem in this part of the world is huge, and the mangroves are threatened, and slowly suffocating in plastic waste.

Local people cut down mangrove trees for fuel and building materials for boats and houses.

Over the past three decades, Indonesia has lost 40% of its mangroves.

The image in the photo shows the reflection of the biggest threat to Brazil’s largest urban mangrove swamp: real estate speculation in areas of environmental preservation.

A clapper rail darts for cover in a patch of coastal red mangroves.

The elusive bird has not been sighted in the area in over six years, but this one has found safety and solitude in a small stretch of mangroves on the coast of Florida.

Mangroves are essential for reptiles, like this Malayan water monitor, to thrive in the limited coastal green spaces of the city.

All pictures are subject to copyright.