Spectacular Winning Images of The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation Environmental Photographer of the Year 2023

1st place in the polar wonders category. Tasiilaq, East Greenland, 2018. A tiny benthic hydromedusa with a bell measuring less than a centimetre. This little-known gelatinous organism lives in deep or polar waters. (Photo by Franco Banfi/Environmental Photography Award)

More: PA2F Environmental Photography Award 2023

Grand prize winner: environmental photographer of the year 2023; also 1st place in the humanity v nature category; and winner of the 2023 public award. Lopé national park, Gabon, 2021. An angry elephant tries to defend itself after it was hit by a train that crosses paths the animals use within Lopé national park. Park officials decided the elephant was too severely injured to be saved. After it was killed, the park director distributed the meat to local people. As the forest loses its carrying capacity to sustain its megafauna, this kind of human-wildlife conflict is increasing. (Photo by Jasper Doest/Environmental Photography Award)

1st place in the into the forest category. Himalayas, India, 2018. The photographer captured a snowstorm in the Himalayas at an altitude of 4,267 metres, just as a flock of Grandala birds invaded the landscape, offering a superb view of their synchronised flight or “murmuration”. (Photo by Kallol Mukherjee/Environmental Photography Award)

1st place in the change makers: reasons for hope category. Malawi, 2022. Elephants are moved from Liwonde national park to Kasungu national park, Malawi. The method used is common practice for moving elephants. The elephants are first tranquilised, then placed in lorries by cranes, before being woken up during the journey. All these operations are carried out with the utmost care and respect for the animals, and help to regulate populations from one area to another. (Photo by Marcus Westberg/Environmental Photography Award)

1st place in the ocean worlds category. Los Islotes, Espiritu Santo national park, Mexico, 2022. California sea lions enjoy protected status in Espiritu Santo national park in Mexico. The region is a no-fishing zone, which provides them with an environment rich in food, while limiting human activity benefits the stability of their population. The one threat that does remain is the climate crisis. (Photo by Simon Biddie/Environmental Photography Award)

2nd place in the change makers: reasons for hope category. Buffelsfontein, South Africa, 2022. Students investigate a model crime scene during a training exercise at the Wildlife Forensic academy. The academy, which is the first of its kind in the world, aims to equip rangers and other environmental law enforcement officers with the skills they need to collect the crucial forensic traces required to successfully prosecute poachers. The rhino used in this staged crime scene was killed and dehorned by poachers before being stuffed and brought in to help train students at the academy. (Photo by Tommy Trenchard/Environmental Photography Award)

2nd place in the into the forest category. Amboli, Maharashtra, India, 2022. The deccan banded gecko (Cyrtodactylus deccanensis) is an endemic species of the Western Ghats in India. This image was taken in the Amboli rainforest on a drizzly evening. Banded geckos are insectivorous animals that are about 15 centimetres long and seek warm and humid temperatures. (Photo by Soumya Ranjan Bhattacharyya/Environmental Photography Award)

2nd place in the polar wonders category. Svalbard, Norway, 2020. The arctic fox, sometimes called the polar fox, is commonly found in Spitsbergen, although it has been hunted for over two centuries. In order to find food in all seasons, the fox has to cope with the Arctic’s extreme conditions. But its small size – it is smaller than the red fox – and its thick fur, which is as insulating as a bear’s, enable it to withstand the extreme cold. (Photo by Knut M. Selmer/Environmental Photography Award)

2nd place in the ocean worlds category. Tenerife, Spain, 2019. A female short-finned pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus) carrying her dead calf. (Photo by Franco Banfi/Environmental Photography Award)

2nd place in the humanity v nature category. Java, Indonesia, 2022. In February 2022, the photographer, Giacomo d’Orlando, started a long-term project investigating the impact of climate change on marine ecosystems and coastal environments, highlighting how people adapt to survive these phenomena. D’Orlando documented the rising sea levels on the north coast of Central Java, a place hit hard by the changing climate and by coastal erosion. (Photo by Giacomo d’Orlando/Environmental Photography Award)

3rd place in the polar wonders category. Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada, 2022. A dog team races through pools of water that have formed on top of melting sea ice during an evening runoutside of Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada, in June 2022. Typically, from late December until June, much of the water in Frobisher Bay – a major inlet on the southern tip of Baffin Island – is frozen. As the temperatures increase, the snow covering the ice melts, creating large pools of water that reveal the turquoise-blue ice beneath it. (Photo by Dustin Patar/Environmental Photography Award)

3rd place in the humanity v nature category. Maharashtra, India, 2019. The 20,000-litre water tanker takes two hours to fill but it gets emptied within five to seven minutes. From elderly people to families to young children, villagers huddle in the crowd to fill their buckets with water. (Photo by Pratik Chorge/Environmental Photography Award)

3rd place in the ocean worlds category. Kuwait, 2022. This photo was taken at the remote oil rigs site in Kuwaiti waters, east of Qaruh Island. The inactive oil rigs have come to represent an important artificial reef in Kuwait, attracting divers and fishers alike. (Photo by Suliman Alatiqi/Environmental Photography Award)

3rd place in the change makers: reasons for hope category. Eilat, Israel, 2019. The coral nursery known as the ‘igloo’ is an artificial dome-shaped reef which was built and placed in the sea more than 20 years ago. Soon after the corals were transplanted to the igloo, others established themselves naturally, attracting many species of fish and other marine animals to the structure. (Photo by Tom Shlesinger/Environmental Photography Award)

3rd place in the into the forest category. Pantanal region, Brazil, 2021. A jaguar holds a caiman by the neck. “After following this jaguar for almost a day on the river bank, we suddenly saw her jumping in the water and start fighting underwater with this caiman. She tried to pull the dead caiman into the bush but it was too steep. She had to pull it a bit further and it was at this moment that I took this picture”. (Photo by Clement Fontaine/Environmental Photography Award)

Students’ choice 2023. Mýrdalsjökull glacier, Iceland, 2019. The beauty of Iceland won over Monaco’s highschool students. The Mýrdalsjökull glacier, the country’s fourth largest ice cap, has many surreal ephemeral caves and landscapes. (Photo by David Feuerhelm/Environmental Photography Award)