A close up of a curious croc wins this year’s Mangrove Photographer of the Year Award

Nov 4, 2022

Alex Baker

A close up of a curious croc wins this year’s Mangrove Photographer of the Year Award

Nov 4, 2022

Alex Baker

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A close-up portrait of an American crocodile surrounded by luscious mangroves has won this year’s Mangrove Photographer of the Year Awards, run by the Mangrove Action Project. The image was captured by Tanya Houppermans in Cuba.

The competition is now in its 8th year, and over 2,000 images were submitted from 68 countries. The images reveal “fascinating insights into the world of mangroves, while challenging us to consider both our place in the natural world and our responsibility to protect it.” Check out the winning images below.

Mangrove Photographer of the Year

Guardian of the Mangroves – Overall Winner – Tanya Houppermans, Cuba

‘‘Guardian of the Mangroves’ captures an intimate moment when a curious American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) swam right up to Tanya Houppermans, and allowed her into its world of luscious mangroves at Gardens of the Queen (Jardines De La Reina). Gardens of the Queen is an archipelago off the coast of Cuba and is one of the most untouched marine ecosystems in the world.
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“The healthy population of American crocodiles is down to the pristine condition of the mangroves and I wanted to capture close-ups of this gentle giant in its natural habitat. I hope this image can illustrate that protecting areas like this is so critical,” says Tanya.

Mangroves & Humans

Honey Hunters – Winner – Muhammad Mostafigur Rahman, Bangladesh

A close up of a curious croc wins this year's Mangrove Photographer of the Year Award — ‘Honey Hunters’ collect wild honey deep in the mangroves of the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world. This ancient traditional event takes place every year during March and April, following the raw rhythms of nature. This extraordinary relationship between the Moulis ‘honey hunters’ and the mangrove forest is unique and in danger of disappearing. Both recent human development in the area and the climate crisis, in particular the rise in sea levels, are threatening the ecology of the Sundarbans and with it, the way of life of the Moulis people.

Mangroves & Landscape

Walakiri Dancing Trees – Winner – Loïc Dupuis, Indonesia

The sun rises along the peaceful beaches of East Sumba in Indonesia. “I wanted to capture the beauty and fragility of this unique wonder. We need to protect and visit places like this with great care, so future generations can also enjoy them.”

Mangroves & Wildlife

Take Off – Winner – Jayakumar MN, UAE

A greater flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) takes off on a migration journey across Asia, and will most likely return to the same coastal wetlands in the winter months. “It was feeding with its head in the water, before flying off into the morning light.”

Mangroves & Underwater

Blue Crab – Winner– Martin Broen, Mexico

The mysteries of a rarely seen natural environment. A blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) fishing in a unique transition between fresh and saltwater in the Mexican cenotes. “During an exploration dive through the dark flooded caves, I came across this proudly standing crab silhouetted against the mangrove roots above.”

Mangroves & Conservation

New Normal – Winner– Kei Miyamoto, Indonesia

A water monitor lizard (Varanus Salvator) struggles along the plastic-filled forest floor foraging for food. “More and more plastic fills our mangrove forests and it’s affecting our wildlife that calls it ‘home’.”

Young Mangrove Photographer of the Year

Healthy Ecosystem – Winner– Fakhrizal Setiawan, Indonesia

Symbiotic links between coastal ecosystems, “college students from North Sulawesi undertake a zonation exercise, discovering the close relationships between mangroves, coral reefs, and seagrasses.”

Mangroves & Stories

Mangrove Restoration Project in Bonaire – Winner – Lorenzo Mittiga, Netherlands Antilles

Volunteers at work in the mud. It can take several weeks in order to clear a new passage to let the water flow into the inner mangrove system.

Aerial view of Lac Bay’s mangrove system (Bonaire).

“The mangroves here support a rich biodiversity and provide a valuable nursery habitat for fish and crustaceans. Juvenile Caribbean Spiny lobsters are finding shelter within the submerged roots before their journey to nearby reefs.”

Volunteer cutting “bricks of overgrown root” in order to reestablish the water flow.

The artificial channel opened in 5 years of work and (next to it) a small mangrove nursery. The group of volunteers opened the channel to let the water flow into the inner part of the mangroves in order to revitalize it. Small nurseries are made up in order to have new mangrove plants ready to be planted where the degradation, due to the lack of water, was stronger.

Juvenile lobsters (Caribbean spiny lobster) aggregation. When lobsters are almost a year old, they aggregate in the mangroves to get prepared for the summer migration. They will migrate all together to the nearby coral reef in the ocean and settle in the coral cracks to live their adult life.

See all the entries over in the full mangrove gallery here.

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Alex Baker

Alex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe