Human rights and Environment. Wiki Loves Earth photo contest is announcing winners of the special nomination!

Since 2014, dozens of countries around the world have organized annual photo contests devoted to their natural heritage within the international Wiki Loves Earth contest. In 2013 we held WLE in Ukraine for the first time, and in 2014 it went international. Overall, WLE collected 767k free photos of protected areas, with around 180k being used in the wikiprojects.

In 2021, we introduced the Human rights and Environment special nomination supporting the initiative Wiki4HumanRights which partners with the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Its goal is to raise awareness of nature protection and human impacts on nature.

This contest edition united 34 countries and territories with 9 of them joining Wiki4HumanRights and receiving submissions for the new nomination. Last week our jurors had a final round evaluating the pictures, and we are delighted to present the top-5 of the Human rights and Environment special nomination on Earth Day!

1st place: photo 1, photo 2, photo 3 by Mario Barroso, CC BY-SA 4.0

These pictures taken in the Emas National Park make a powerful triptych referring to the immense challenges Brazil is facing regarding the conservation of its natural ecosystems. The country has experienced unprecedented wildfires in the last decade. The Emas National Park is a part of the Pantanal Biosphere Reserve and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the states of Goiás and Mato Grosso do Sul in Brazil. It covers 1,320 square kilometers of cerrado savannah. Wildfire is a natural factor shaping tropical savannahs and has been present in the cerrado for thousands of years. 

2nd place: photo by Robson de Oliveira, CC BY-SA 4.0

Another picture from Brazil depicts a wildfire in Serra do Gandarela National Park. It is situated within the Espinhaço Range and holds the largest intact remnant of Atlantic Forest in Minas Gerais. This is a transition region between the Atlantic Forest and Cerrado biomes which contributes to species diversity.

3rd place: photo by Olegandros, CC BY-SA 4.0

“On November 22, beavers built a house under the walls of the National Commission for State Regulation of Energy in protest of the threat of deforestation in Polissia region, Ukraine. Beavers are convinced that cutting down forests in order to burn them at thermal power plants is an unacceptable blow to the nature of Polissya and the climate on the planet”, — tells the author of the picture about the “Don’t burn our houses!” action to protect the forests of Polissia, in particular Polissia Nature Reserve.

4th place: photo by Paneos77, CC BY-SA 4.0

The author caught a mysterious view of Thousand trees location in Doirani Lake, Greece. Monica Iyer, one of the jurors, comments: “The image alone conveys a powerful representation of human interaction with nature, and of the threats posed by rising waters. The lake was in danger of drying out and now is flood-prone because of human manipulation of the water supply”.

5th place: photo by Miguel G. C. Domingos, CC BY-SA 4.0

The photo shows us a stunning view at sunset from the top of Serra de Montejunto, a protected landscape in the Montejunto-Estrela mountain range, Portugal. We can see some wind farms on neighboring small hills, and Serra da Arrábida in the distance. This mountain range, Serra da Arrábida, is a part of Arrábida Natural Park which comes into contact with the ocean

The 10th edition of the Wiki Loves Earth contest is starting in one week, and we are happy to say that we will keep the Human rights and Environment special nomination this year! 

We are grateful to our amazing jurors:

  • Benjamin Schachter. Human Rights Officer and the focal point for climate change and the environment at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
  • Lukas Mezger. Attorney and climate activist from Germany. As a longtime Wikipedian, he currently serves as the chair of the Wikimedia Deutschland supervisory board.
  • Monica Iyer. Human rights attorney, advocate, and researcher with a particular interest and expertise in human rights and the environment.
  • Oleksiy Vasyliuk. Chairman of the Board of Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group. Since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, he has been working to help the occupied national parks and rescue the environmentalists from the war zone. In peacetime, he is involved in various initiatives to help protected areas and designs new national parks.

Join Wiki Loves Earth 2022!

Nine years of having the photo contest all around the world, almost 800,000 free photos of natural heritage sites, with around 180,000 being used in the wikiprojects — we are committed to continue and make these numbers and impact even bigger this year!

The 10th edition of the Wiki Loves Earth photo contest is just around the corner! In about a month we will start gathering incredible photos of nature monuments from all over the world.

For the first time Wiki Loves Earth was held in Ukraine in 2013, and in 2014 it went international. Now it is the second biggest Wikimedia photo contest which is aimed at raising public awareness about protected areas and expanding the database of free photos of natural heritage sites.

How does it work? Wiki Loves Earth is organized through local contests coordinated by volunteers. Last year we had 34 countries and territories participating and organizing local contests, and we hope to have even more of them in Wiki Loves Earth 2022! The list of participating countries will be constantly updated, you can check it and find more information on the Wikimedia Commons page. Local organizers select their winners on the local level and submit up to 15 winners to the international jury. All participants have a chance to win both international and local prizes. 

Do you want to take part in Wiki Loves Earth 2022?

Please check Rules for your submission and upload them to Wikimedia Commons under a free license that enables their free worldwide use. 

Do you want to organize Wiki Loves Earth 2022 in your country?

Check out our detailed guidelines about the process. Feel free to contact us at wle-team@wikimedia.org.ua, and we will support you on every step of organizing your local Wiki Loves Earth 2022.

More news and updates are coming, follow us on social media:

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to write to us at wle-team@wikimedia.org.ua.

P.S. This year is especially turbulent for our core organizing team, as its members are mostly from Ukraine, which is currently battling a full-scale military invasion by Russia. There was a delay in distributing international prizes, and we have not yet announced the winners in the 2021 special nomination “Human rights and environment”, but it is in the works. Please bear with us.