CNN —A photograph of a young girl in a checked green dress against the backdrop of a churned-up sea filled with debris is the winner of the 2024 Mangrove Photography Awards. Ammar Alsayed Ahmed/Mangrove Photography AwardsIn its tenth year, the photography awards are intended to drive awareness of the beauty and fragility of mangrove forests like the Sundarbans and highlight the urgent need for their protection. This category’s winning image, taken by Dipayan Bose in India, shows a man standing in his flooded home; other commended images depict urban development encroaching on mangrove forests, and pollution ranging from fishing nets to toxic chemicals. Nicholas Alexander Hess/Mangrove Photography AwardsOther categories celebrate the beauty of mangroves, with stunning aerial images of mangrove forests lining turquoise channels, and shots of amazing wildlife that lives within these ecosystems. “We hope the photography awards can help connect people to mangrove forests and their conservation, by exciting them about the diversity of life found within them,” said Thom.

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Persons: Supratim Bhattacharjee, ” Leo Thom, Ammar Alsayed Ahmed, ”, Thom, Dipayan Bose, Nicholas Alexander Hess, Australia’s Nicholas Alexander Hess, Hess, “ Organizations: CNN, Initiative, IUCN Locations: Bengal, India, Al Dhafra, United Arab Emirates, Australia