25-05-2025
7 conversation-starting photos of our precious planet
From a rhino at the end of a rainbow to the molten front line of a wildfire, the shortlist for Earth Photo 2025 is full of riveting environmental stories that demand to be told.
The international photography and film competition, created by the UK's Royal Geographical Society, Forestry England and visual art consultancy Parker Harris in 2018, received over 1,500 submissions from 250 'lens artists' in its seventh year.
40 photographers and filmmakers were selected by a jury of experts, who now have the unenviable task of choosing a winner from the 203-strong collection of 'urgent, poetic and often unexpected stories'.
'These stories not only highlight the pressing issues of climate change, such as disappearing habitats, polluted rivers, and climate-induced displacement, but also celebrate human ingenuity, resilience, and the deep connections between people and their environments,' according to a statement from the competition.
Here are seven of our favourites, before a winner is selected and The Earth Photo 2025 exhibition launches at the Royal Geographical Society from 17 June - 20 August.
Donning a panda suit at Wolong's Hetaoping centre in Sichuan Province is just one of many things that Ami Vitale has done to embody her belief in 'living the story'.
The National Geographic photographer, writer and filmmaker has travelled to more than 100 countries, capturing the stories of individuals living on the frontlines of climate change and war, 'who refuse to let cataclysm define their futures'.
At the Chinese panda centre, cubs are raised with minimal human contact, including rare hands-on checkups, in hopes of fostering skills for life in the wild.
In 'A Hopeful Sign', above, Vitale snapped a black rhino named Bruno, peacefully resting beneath a rainbow at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya.
For over a decade, Spanish-born artist Berta De La Rosa has dedicated herself to a project called 'Getsemaní', which advocates for the protection of Mediterranean traditions through a focus on the olive tree.
'My mission with this lifelong project, rooted in environmental sustainability, is to give a voice through the figure of the olive tree - as a universal tree, a tree of hope - to all our trees,' she says.
'And by doing so, I hope to safeguard our landscapes and reinstate the dignity of agricultural labour.'
Chiara Fabbro is an Italian documentary photographer based in London, focusing on migration, displacement, and human connection.
In this series, she turns her lens on what may be the final generation of shepherds living in the remote highlands of the Accursed Mountains, a dramatic range spanning Albania, Kosovo, and Montenegro.
Their traditional way of life is threatened by climate-driven drought - forcing flocks to travel further - and a younger generation turning away from remote mountain life.
A cross-country ski trail winds through a completely snow-free forest. Today, 90 per cent of Italy's ski slopes rely on artificial snowmaking systems, consuming an estimated 96,840,000 cubic metres of water annually - the equivalent of a city of one million people.
That's one aspect of the way global heating is manifesting in Italy, a subject Italian documentary photographer Filippo Ferraro explores through his 'Heataly' project.
A Ticuna man is dwarfed by a 500-year-old Ceiba tree in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest in this photo by Colombian photographer and engineer Mateo Borrero.
On the face of it, the image seems simply to illustrate the smallness of man beside a natural giant. But a horizontal shadow, at eye-level with the man, tells a deeper story.
The tree bears a water line that marks the typical height of the river during the rainy season, which usually peaks between April and May. Taken in May 2024, the photo shows the extent of last year's drought due to climate change.
Iceland, once 40 per cent forested, today has only about 1.5 per cent forest cover. Restoration efforts are vital to the country's goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2040, but face multiple challenges - including from the growing demands of tourism.
Tourism in Iceland has skyrocketed in the past decade, observes photographer and director Jussi Hellsten, but emissions from travel are not counted in national inventories under the Kyoto Protocol, complicating the country's climate efforts.
'Since 2021, I have documented the intersection of tourism and reforestation in Iceland using digital infrared photography, a tool commonly employed to assess forest health,' he explains.
'The technique reveals hidden aspects of the landscape,' he says. And, as in this photo, also highlights the essential role of volunteers. Millions of tree seedlings are grown annually at nurseries like Kvistari, pictured here.
In January 2025, Bali's beaches were inundated with waves of plastic pollution. Each year, the rainy season flushes Indonesia's polluted rivers, depositing millions of tonnes of plastic waste into the oceans, which then washes up along the country's coastlines.
Although these plastic waves are an annual occurrence, 2025 has been called "the worst year yet" by locals.
Beijing-based British photographer and filmmaker Sean Gallagher travelled to Indonesia to document this unfolding plastic crisis. His series portrays local Indonesians engaged in community efforts to clean the country's polluted beaches, rivers, and mangroves.
Mark Whaling and a crew raced up and down a hill in a tanker truck as they battled a wildfire in Los Angeles County, scrambling to get water from a street hydrant in time to stay ahead of flames moving up a ridge.
A helicopter flew in to drop water, but it had to fly a long distance to refill and a fire that might have been stopped went on to destroy homes.
As they fought that early 2000s blaze, Whaling says, he spotted a sealed water tank nearby that firefighters had no way of accessing. He thought that was ridiculous.
'We don't tell fire engines, 'Protect the city and go find your own water.' We put fire hydrants every 600 feet (182 metres) all around cities,' said Whaling, who has since retired from the county fire department.
'But when it comes to the helicopters, we weren't supporting them as robustly as we should.'
His frustration sparked an idea: the Heli-Hydrant, a relatively small, open tank that can be rapidly filled with water, enabling helicopters to fill up faster for urban fires rather than flying to sometimes distant lakes or ponds.
As wildfires become more frequent, Whaling's invention is getting the attention of officials eager to boost preparedness. First used for the 2020 Blue Ridge Fire in Yorba Linda, 10 Heli-Hydrants have been built across Southern California and 16 more are in progress, according to Whaling.
Helicopters are essential for firefighting. They can drop about 3,785 litres of water at once - some much more. That's far more than hoses than get on a fire all at once, and can be the best way to attack fires that are difficult for ground crews to reach.
But pilots sometimes have to fly a long way to scoop up water, and in drought-prone areas, natural sources can sometimes dry up or diminish so they're hard to draw from. In Southern California's Riverside County, helicopters have had to fly up to about 16 kilometres to find water, eating critical time from battling fires.
On a remote plot in the Southern California town of Cabazon, contractor Glenn Chavez stood on a ladder and peered into an empty Heli-Hydrant. A radio in hand, he clicked a button to activate the system and watched as water roared into the tank. In about six minutes, it filled with 32,176 liters.
Chavez, a general contractor, was testing the Cabazon Water District's lastest investment — a second Heli-Hydrant that local officials are counting on to help protect the town. At $300,000 (€265,000), it costs slightly less than the average price of a single home in Cabazon.
'Living in a beautiful desert community, you're going to have risks of fire," said Michael Pollack, the district's general manager. "And to have these Heli-Hydrants is a major advantage. People will have a little bit of comfort knowing that they have another tool for fighting fires in their community."
Pilots can remotely activate the tanks from half a mile away, with the tank typically filling quickly from a city's water system. Helicopters can fill up in less than a minute. Once it's activated, solar panels and backup batteries ensure the system can still be used during power outages. And at night, lights from the tank and a tower nearby guide pilots toward it.
In November, fire responders in San Diego put the product to the test when the 19.5 hectare Garden Fire in Fallbrook, a community known for its avocado groves, prompted evacuation orders and warnings. Helicopters tapped the tank nearly 40 times.
Pilot Ben Brown said its proximity to the fire saved not just time but fuel.
'They're great for when you don't have other water sources,' he said. "The more dip sites, especially in some of the more arid environments in the county, the better.'
Heli-Hydrants have raised some concerns about their placement in urban areas where houses, buildings and power lines can be obstacles to flight and they might have to squeeze into tighter spaces.
In those cases, firefighters may choose to fly farther to a natural source that gives the helicopter more room, said Warren Voth, a deputy pilot with the San Diego County Sheriff's Department. A pilot's goal is to always to face the wind while entering and exiting an area, for safety, and they need room to accomplish that.
In some cases, the municipal systems needed to fill Heli-Hydrants could go empty during major fires. As the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles burned, three nearly 3.8 million litre tanks that helped pressurize city hydrants in the Pacific Palisades ran dry as demand soared and burning pipes leaked water.
Other times, helicopters just can't access them. When winds are fierce, flying is nearly impossible; hurricane-force winds that supercharged the Los Angeles infernos initially grounded firefighting aircraft. When multiple helicopters respond to large blazes, they can't all use the Heli-Hydrant. And smoke can make it hard to see it.
Portable water tanks can accomplish some of the things that Heli-Hydrants do, but can require time, people and equipment to set up.
Areas where wildland vegetation intersects with human development have always been vulnerable to fires, but more people are living in them today, and climate change is creating conditions that can make these regions drier and more flammable.
Jake Wiley has seen intensifying wildfires devastate his community. Two blazes in 2007 and 2017 collectively scorched more than 400 structures in San Diego. The last one forced Wiley, now general manager for the Rainbow Municipal Water District, to evacuate.
That fire also prompted local agencies to install a Heli-Hydrant — and when the Garden Fire erupted in November, it played a big role helping firefighters protect homes.
'It seems like when you've seen the worst, you haven't yet,' Wiley said. 'Anything we can do helps.'
