The most awaited moment of Wiki Loves Earth 2022, the largest international photo contest devoted to natural heritage has come! Finally, we are ready to reveal the international winners — 20 of the best nature photos from across 39 participating countries! 🎉
You can check out the complete list of winners 👉 here. ⠀ We happily congratulate the winners and thank each participant for their contribution to highlighting nature heritage and illustrating Wikipedia and local teams for their hard work to make this contest happen!
Ukraine has always been an active leader in the contest, often near the top of the list of countries by the number of local participants and photos. But unfortunately, this year, due to the full-scale Russian invasion, Wiki Loves Earth was not held in Ukraine.
Instead, Wikimedia Ukraine organized a campaign to illustrate Wikipedia and Wikidata articles with photos of Ukrainian nature uploaded to Wiki Loves Earth over the previous nine contest editions. The campaign was held from 5th July till 5th August.
Recently, organizers published the results of the campaign:
🌳13 volunteers took part in the Ukrainian Nature Illustration Month. As part of the campaign, they illustrated 718 articles on Ukrainian Wikipedia; in particular, they created 114 new articles. They also improved 510 items on Wikidata.
Participants of the competition will receive prizes and official certificates of participation from the NGO “Wikimedia Ukraine.”
Meanwhile, enjoy Ukrainian landscapes from the previous year’s competition, and stay tuned for the international results of Wiki Loves Earth this year!💚
Maybe you are organizing a contest already for a few years in your country or even for the first time, and you have something interesting or useful to tell the world. Then, here is your unique chance!
The international team would love to share exciting stories from local organizers on international blogs & social media.
You can tell us about: – Your winners and their journey; – Your approach or features of organizing the contest; – Interview with a jury member, participant, or organizer; – Anything else you consider interesting;
Contact us at wle-team@wikimedia.org.ua if you have a story to tell and be proud to represent WLE in your country!💚
39 countries participated in the competition this year – that’s a record number for our project’s 9-year history! Most of them have already finished a contest in their countries. Now it’s time to select local winners.
Meanwhile, let’s check the results of the contest so far:
🌳Over 3,800 people participated in the contest; 🌳Wikimedia Commons received over 45,000 new photos of nature-protected areas; 🌳Over 4,600 images already illustrate respective articles on Wikipedia; 🌳Over 2,700 people joined the contest for the first time; 🌳Top countries with the most images: Germany, Wales, Brazil.
Thanks to everyone for participating, and stay tuned to explore the winners of local competitions! After local winners are submitted, the international jury will select global winners in November.
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!
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.
“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.
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
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.
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.
Wiki Loves Earth, the largest international photo contest devoted to nature heritage, is ready to reveal its winners — meet 15 best photos of protected sites and their representatives!
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 2021, we held the contest for the 8th year in a row. It lasted between May 1 — August 31, with different countries having different submission windows.
This contest edition united 34 countries and territories. Among those, United Arab Emirates and Wales joined the competition for the first time; many countries that started WLE last year continued organizing the contest in 2021.
As a result, Wikimedia Commons received over 64,000 freely licensed photos of natural monuments from over 4300 people. Local organizing teams ran evaluation of photos from their countries and eventually submitted up to 15 local winners from each country. The international jury team had a challenging task — to select up to 20 international winners out of 390 winning photos on the local level.
This year, the international winners represent two categories — landscapes (including individual trees if it’s a nature monument) and macro/close-up (animals, plants, fungi). Now, let’s meet top photos by category!
The first place of the landscape category gives us a glimpse into the amazing Atlantic oceanside in the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park, Portugal. It’s one of 13 natural parks in Portugal and covers a big area of approximately 145 km2. The park includes the Serra de Sintra Mountain Range but extends all the way to the coast and Cabo da Roca, continental Europe’s westernmost point.
“The landscape and the trees of the southern agricultural park, still shrouded in the morning mist shortly after sunrise, seem to almost emerge from the waters”, — says the author. The second place features a landscape in the Parco Agricolo Sud Milano near Rosate, Italy.
Just look at this fascinating view on the lake Stymphalia in Greece. The author took it during a morning ride with an authentic boat from the old times. Lake Stymphalia is an important habitat for a significant number of species of concern, including eagles and other raptors, egrets, herons, bitterns, ibises, partridges and terns, as well as a stopping point for migratory birds.
The author caught a mysterious view on Zilkale, which is a medieval castle located in the Fırtına Valley “Storm Valley”) within the Pontic Mountains, and is one of the most important historical structures in the Çamlıhemşin district of Rize Province, Turkey. It is also located in the protected area Kaçkar Dağları Millî Parkı.
Mount Merapi is located on the border of Central Java and the Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. It has an altitude of 2,930 meters above sea level; Mount Merapi has been erupting for over a year now. Incandescent lava discharge can be as frequent as dozens of times a day! The farthest sliding distance of incandescent lava reaches 2,200 meters.
Within Wiki Loves Earth, we also highlight representatives of protected sites, their flora and fauna. Meet the winners of the second category — macro/close-up photography!
The first place features Arianta arbustorum on the Taraxacum flower: macro shot taken in the Ropsha Forest, Leningrad Oblast, Russia. Anja Strelec, one of the international jury members, mentioned that it’s “one of the favourite photos, so clear colors and the motif, and the details”.
This colorful picture gives us amazing details of the Brown-throated sunbird in Mapawa Nature Park in the Philippines. The author says: “Brown-throated sunbirds are commonly seen upland feeding with nectar. Males have these wonderful colors which really catch your eye, especially in its colorful habitat surrounded by flowers”.
This Dipsas albifrons representative was caught in Serra do Mar State Park, Brazil. Dipsas species are slender, small to medium-sized snakes, often no longer than 60 cm. They are found from southern Mexico through Central America and South America.
This photo is a wonderful representation of Carrhotus xanthogramma species. It was taken in the Acquerino Cantagallo Natural Reserve in the province of Prato, Italy. These thermophilic spiders prefer sunny, warm environments and can mainly be encountered on bushes, on tree trunks and shrubbery.
A Leaf beetle (Aulacophora indica) peeking from the leaf hole of Alnus nepalensis tree was found in Chitwan National Park, Nepal. The author explains that adult leaf beetles make holes on host plant leaves while feeding. They camouflage themselves with their feeding holes.
The next winning photo depicts three female deer (Cervus nippon) in the Kremenets Mountains National Nature Park, Western Ukraine. The sika deer, also known as the spotted deer or the Japanese deer, is a species of deer native to much of East Asia and introduced to other parts of the world.
One more photo in our top from Chitwan National Park, Nepal: its representatives Baya Weavers (Ploceus philippinus) are best known for their elaborately woven nests. These pendulous nests are retort shaped, with a central nesting chamber and a long vertical tube that leads to a side entrance to the chamber. The nests are woven with long strips of paddy leaves, rough grasses and long strips torn from palm fronds.
The author is beating records by having three photos in our top of macro/close-up photography! A Feral Pigeon in flight during a rainy day was caught in Chitwan National Park, Nepal, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. At the foot of the Himalayas, Chitwan is one of the few remaining undisturbed vestiges of the ‘Terai’ region, which formerly extended over the foothills of India and Nepal. It has a particularly rich flora and fauna.
We can see amazing colors and details in this photo of a frog Rana temporaria in nature park Pfälzerwald (Palatinate Forest Nature Park), Germany. It lies in the south of Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany and borders on France. The nature park covers an area of 177,100 hectares and includes the former landscape conservation area of the German Wine Route, which runs from the eastern edge of the nature park to the Rhine plain.
The United Arab Emirates took part in WLE for the first time, and its photo got to the winners list, great result! Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus was caught in flight in Ras Al Kohr wildlife sanctuary, attracting migratory birds in large numbers. Located in Dubai, it is among the few urban protected areas of the world.
We congratulate all the winners for their great work and contribution to highlighting nature heritage and illustrating Wikipedia, as well as local teams for their hard work to make this contest happen. Stay tuned for more in 2022!
Note: in addition, WLE 2021 had a special nomination “Human rights and environment”, results of which will be announced separately. A more detailed jury report on the international winners will be published in early 2022 (UPD: the report is added in comments to this blog post).
Do you have any questions about Wiki Loves Earth? Maybe you want to organize WLE in your country next year?
The 9th edition of Wiki Loves Earth photo contest finished in September, and we have received amazing winning photos from 34 countries and territories. While the organizing team is working to determine international winners, here is an overview of our local winners (we highlight one of the winners per country, they don’t necessarily represent the 1st place, but are taken from the overall top photos on the local level). Enjoy a virtual trip to some of natural monuments all around the world:
Lake Gosh is situated in the Dilijan National Park – one of the four national parks of Armenia. It has rich biodiversity, medicinal mineral water springs, as well as natural and cultural monuments.
This year we had a division of local winners into 2 categories: landscapes and macro/close-up photography. Look at such a great close-up of the Ring-tailed Dragon lizard blending into a red rock at Kings Canyon, Watarrka National Park, Northern Territory, Australia.
Traunstein is the highest mountain on the east bank of Traunsee in the district of Gmunden, Austria. This year, Austrian WLE was integrated into the annual Austrian WikiDaheim photo contest.
Gudyalchay river in Guba District represents the nature of Azerbaijan. The river starts at the northern slope of Tufan Dagh in Greater Caucasus, at 3,000 meters above sea level and ends its stream by flowing into the Caspian sea.
Mysterious photo – winner of the landscape category in WLE 2021 in Belarus represents Lake Chortava in Aziory Zakaznik having a territory of 218,52 km² with a range of lakes.
One of the local winners in WLE Benin shows us an amazing Senegal chameleon which is a species of reptile native to West Africa. It is found in Cameroon, Senegal, Benin, Mali, Nigeria in the humid savannah.
Drone photos can show us protected sites in full scale – look at this one capturing Toque-Toque Grande Beach in the State-level North Coast Marine Environmental Protection Area, located in São Sebastião, Brazil.
The Lobé Falls are located 300 kilometers southwest of Yaoundé, the capital of Cameroon. Their uniqueness lies in this vast set of streams flowing in a series of waterfalls over a distance of 1 kilometer. For the Batanga, Maabi and Pygmy people who live nearby, the Lobé Falls represent a place of belief and are generally associated with various worship and cultural rituals related to the water of the river and the sea.
National park Krka in Croatia is named after the river Krka that it encloses. It is located along the middle-lower course of the Krka River in central Dalmatia, in Šibenik-Knin county. The Krka Waterfalls area has the second highest density of lavender in Europe, hence the high frequency of wasps and bees in the area.
WLE in Germany chose as one of the winners this spectacular aerial view of nature reserve at Wallersberg in Weismain, Lichtenfels. It has wonderful colors, doesn’t it?
WLE is focusing not only on capturing landscapes, but also flora and fauna of protected sites. Look at this winning photo of WLE in Ghana featuring a local elephant at Mole National Park.
Did you know that except for sunny beaches Greece also has snowy landscapes? This winning photo is proof depicting Oros Tymfi mountain. The area lies north of the town of Ioannina, in the region of Zagori which was established as a National Park in 1973. The core zone comprises the Vikos gorge which is about 10 km long and has vertical rocky cliffs many hundreds of meters high.
The Guinean WLE winner shows us a Chimpanzee of Bossou; this species is well known for using a stone hammer and anvil to crack open the nuts of the oil palm tree (Elaeis guineensis). Their genetic diversity and survival are now critically threatened.
A unique moment of volcano eruption became a winner of WLE in Indonesia. It was taken near Mount Merapi that is located on the border of Central Java and Yogyakarta has an altitude of 2,930 meters above sea level. From the end of 2020 until now, Mount Merapi is erupting. The frequency of incandescent lava discharge can reach dozens of times a day. The farthest sliding distance from incandescent lava reaches 2,200 meters.
The Cliffs of Moher are sea cliffs located at the southwestern edge of the Burren region in County Clare, Ireland. They run for about 14 kilometres and rank among the most visited tourist sites in Ireland, with around 1.5 million visits per annum.
One of the winners of WLE in Italy shows us a wonderful sunset at the Tre Cime Natural Park in the Autonomous province of Bolzano, Italy. The peaks are composed of well-layered dolomites of the Dolomia Principale (Hauptdolomit) formation.
Kenya is surprising us the second year in a row with amazing photos of representatives of its fauna. This winning photo depicts two giraffes taken in Rombo, Kenya.
Văratic Gorge, a natural monument located in Rîșcani district, east of Văratic village, Moldova was formed over several hundred thousand years ago. There is a massive reef of Badenian age and skeletons of corals, foraminifera, mollusks, algae-lithotams and other aquatic organisms.
Ras El Ma is a cape in Morocco situated nearby Tarourt Lalla Soueka. Morocco is a country unique in the variety of its natural resources – it has both mountain ranges and sandy beaches.
Baya Weavers (Ploceus philippinus’) are best known for their elaborately woven nests. These pendulous nests are retort shaped, with a central nesting chamber and a long vertical tube that leads to a side entrance to the chamber. The nests are woven with long strips of paddy leaves, rough grasses and long strips torn from palm fronds you can see in Chitwan National Park, Nepal.
Sabtang Island is one of the three main inhabited islands of Batanes, the northernmost province in the Philippines. With its well-preserved culture, beautiful natural landscapes, and friendly people, this remote island is such a refreshing escape.
One of the winners of WLE in Portugal shows us an amazing reflection of the ocean view depicting also a fisherman that fits well in the landscape. It’s located in National Park Sudoeste Alentejano e Costa Vicentina in Portugal.
Karongi kibuy in Rwanda is in the list of top places to visit and explore in the country. Other local winners in Rwanda depict representatives of fauna, check them out.
It is rare that Goldfinch appears at the bird tables, but in Sweden during migration it can happen. Here he was attracted by sunflower seeds in Haväng and Vitemölla beach slopes.
Xiaoyoukeng is located in Yangmingshan National Park, Taiwan. This is the first time in life the author saw snow on this mountain. When the mist on the top of the mountain drifted away, he found that the top of the mountain was covered with snow, which is an unusual sight in Yangmingshan National Park.
Our international winner of WLE 2021 Daniel is in the game again: now he got on the list of local winners of WLE in Tanzania. The photo depicts flamingoes in the Serengeti National Park that is world-famous for the Great Migration when over two million animals pass through its plains.
WLE 2021 in Turkey winner shows us the Seven Lakes plateau. It is located at an altitude of 3000 meters in Aladaglar National Park. Interestingly, Büyükgöl depicted on the photo is a glacial lake.
One more amazing close-up is a winner of WLE in Tunisia. It’s the Little Owl (Athene noctua) near the IBA (Important Bird Area) Aqueduct of Zaghouan, Tunisia.
The Ugandan winner depicts a wonderful view on local birds – the western plantain-eaters (Crinifer piscator), also known as the grey plantain-eater or western grey plantain-eater.
UAE is joining WLE again this year and brings us great winners. This photo depicts the mountains of Wadi Shawka the author managed to catch at sunrise time.
Lake Arshytsya in the Carpathian mountains, Western Ukraine, was taken from the sky and participates in a local special nomination “Best aerophoto”. Arshytsya Nature Reserve was created to preserve mountain oldest forests on the verge of transition from mixed to pure spruce forests (250-300 years old) and further to mountain pine thickets (230 years old).
Wales has joined WLE for the first time and brought amazing results. “Just after the easing of lockdown we ventured to ogwen Valley to catch the milky way arch”, – the author of the winning photos says. It was taken in Snowdonia National Park.
Stay tuned to find out who the international winners are! The results will be announced in the end of November – beginning of December.
Do you have any questions about Wiki Loves Earth? Maybe you want to organize WLE in your country next year? Contact us at wle-team@wikimedia.org.ua and we will tell you everything you want to know!
The 9th edition of Wiki Loves Earth photo contest starts to gather photos of protected sites all around the world! Join us to draw attention to protected areas and help to illustrate wikiprojects, find out in our blog post how.
Wiki Loves Earth — the biggest international photo contest devoted to nature heritage — has started in 2013 in Ukraine and continues to collect pictures of protected sites from all the continents. The aims are creating the biggest database of free images of protected sites and raising public awareness about unique natural areas around our unique planet.
In 2021, we have 27 countries/regions participating and the listis extending!
This year, WLE has two categories of winning photos — landscapes and macro/close-up, which would help to find a balance between these types of pictures in our winning list.
Also, in 2021 we support the initiative Wiki4HumanRights that partners with WMF and UNHR. WLE international will have a special global nomination “Human rights and environment” that would bring an additional impact we can create within the competition together. Follow our news, more details about it are coming soon!
How to join WLE 2021?
If you’re a passionate nature photographer, professional or amateur, beginner or pro, take part in the contest to highlight your works and make an impact! Follow the next steps:
Please, check a specific period of the contest in your region/country.
Prepare your submissions and upload them to Wikimedia Commons.
You can upload photos taken recently or specifically for the contest. Please follow the restrictions exposed in your country (our COVID-19 response). Or go through your archives to submit your older photos taken in your region/country or captured some protected area while travelling. Good luck!
If you want to start your own local contest, we’ll help you out! Found your country in the participating countries list? We’ll connect you with its organizing team, so you can merge your efforts. Didn’t find your country? We’ll provide you with guidance on how to organize your competition.
Check out our detailed guidelines about the process and contact us at wle-team@wikimedia.org.ua.
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