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Nature Wild

Nestled amid the giant roots of a tree in a dark almost-black image, several flower-like mushrooms grow a psychedelic green.

Last year people from 196 countries and territories participated in TNC's photo contest. Here are some favorites.

February 28, 2023

Spring 2023 Issue

Ghost Mushrooms Ghost Mushrooms // Nicknamed ghost mushrooms due to its eerie green glow, the scientific names of these bioluminescent mushrooms are Omphalotus Nidiformis.  The glow is very much visible to the naked eyes in complete darkness.  They are found in certain forests in Australia.  Finding them and photographing them can be challenging as they grow and glow for only a few weeks in a year. © Callie Chee/TNC Photo Contest 2022

In 2022, photographers from 196 countries and territories submitted more than 100,000 pictures to The Nature Conservancy’s global photo contest. Here are some of our favorite images from around the world.

Learn about future photo contests and see other winning images at nature.org/photography.

Second Place, Wildlife Category In Namibia, an African bush elephant kicks up dust.

“The composition of this photo and its color balance are absolutely beautiful. The eye is drawn to these elements first, and then you realize the center point is the mother polar bear and her cubs."

Celebrity Judge Coyote Peterson

First Place, Landscape Category For just a few moments, a fog clears on the slopes of Mount Adi north of Navarre, Spain, revealing a forest covered in rime ice.
First Place, Wildlife Category As the sun rises in the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya, two lions stand together—a young male and an older companion, Morani. One of a group of lions known locally as the Four Musketeers, Morani is the oldest known lion in the reserve and the last surviving "musketeer."
Honorable Mention, Wildlife Category In South Africa, two bull giraffes (above) angle for dominance by “necking”—a form of fighting in which giraffes beat each other with their own heads. Often the giraffe with the longer and thicker neck wins the scuffle and is more likely to breed and pass on its genetic traits.
Honorable Mention, Landscape Category On the southeastern coast of Iceland, the mountain Vestrahorn rises above the black sand dunes and yellow grasses of Stokksnes beach.
Honorable Mention, Climate Category Wastewater ponds north of Eugene, Oregon, used in the making of paper are seen from the air.
Honorable Mention, People & Nature What first may appear to be a field is, on closer inspection, revealed to be a forest. This well-preserved jungle located on the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico was partially clear-cut to make space for the construction of a railway.
First Place, People and Nature Category A factory encroaches on a coast in Greece. The beachgoers in the image are facing the sea. The scene, says photographer Jurek, was “very symbolic for me. Industry pushes people off the ground. It pushes more and more.”
Guest Judge Ami Vitale’s Choice Nature can be brutal and unforgiving. In South Luangwa National Park in Zambia, a leopard carries a dead female vervet monkey in its jaws. The monkey’s baby—still alive—clings to its mother.

“It is a brutal and uncomfortable image and part of me wishes I never had seen it, but this is nature. It is a tremendously difficult photo to look at, but it is also powerful and it still haunts me today."

Guest Judge Ami Vitale

Honorable Mention, Wildlife Category Two golden jackals challenge each other over food in Keoladeo National Park in Rajasthan, India.
Honorable Mention, Wildlife Category Two deer are seen at dawn—one standing still as the other moves through a forest.
First Place, Plants and Fungi Category The bioluminescent "ghost fungus," or omphalotus nidiformus, grows and glows for only a few weeks each year in certain forests in Australia—making it difficult to find and to photograph. © Callie Chee/TNC Photo Contest 2022
Honorable Mention, Wildlife Category Small fireflies known as “himebotaru” flash in the forests of Tottori, Japan. This photo is not a composite image. It was taken with a single shutter and a 60-second exposure.
First Place, Climate Category In one of the winning images from TNC’s 2022 Global Photo Contest, a fan-throated lizard guards its territory at a wind farm in India. Researchers have hypothesized that the windmills are scaring off the lizard’s natural predators, and in response the animal’s coloring has brightened.

The Spring 2023 Issue:

Andrea Akall'eq Burgess portrait

Conservation Trailblazers

Meet six women who are changing how conservation is done at TNC, from conference rooms to local communities.

Colorful paper wildflowers

Bloom and Bust: Changing Temperatures Are Putting Wildflowers and Wildlife Out of Sync

In Wyoming, warmer springs and earlier snowmelt could spell trouble for flowering plants and the wildlife that depend on the precise timing of their blossoms and berries.

By Kirsten Weir

Robyn James portrait

Who Is Conservation

Removing barriers for women working in the environmental field will only make conservation as a whole more effective.

By Robyn James