In photos: Fragile lives and life in the mangroves of the world

From India’s diverse coastline to the Florida Everglades in the United States, photographs of the mangrove forests of the world document a varied, ecologically-rich tapestry of life but tell one urgent story: that these ecosystems are the risk of collapse

The photographs were among the 3,303 entries from 78 nations for the 11th edition of the Mangrove Photography Awards 2025, organised by the Mangrove Action Project, a US-based non-profit.

More than a hundred of these photographs were shortlisted for six categories: people, landscape, underwater, threats, wildlife and conservation stories. The awards were open to amateur and professional photographers.

Announcing the winners on Saturday, the Mangrove Action Project said in a press release that the “winning images capture the urgent race to save these endangered but precious ecosystems, found in 125 countries and territories around the world”.

The nonprofit said that as “ecological powerhouses”, mangroves perform vital functions such as sequestering five times more carbon than terrestrial forests, protecting more than 15 million people from flooding and support the livelihoods of millions of fishers and coastal communities. They are also vital habitats for countless marine and terrestrial species.

But at least 50% of the world’s mangrove ecosystems are at risk of collapse by 2050, said the nonprofit, identifying urban development, deforestation,...

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