Pangolins in Crisis: Brent Stirton, South Africa; 1st place, Natural world and wildlife. “Pangolins are the world’s most illegally trafficked mammals, with an estimated one million trafficked to Asia in the last 10 years. Their scales are used in traditional Chinese and Vietnamese medicine, and their meat is sold as a high-priced delicacy. As a result, pangolins are listed as critically endangered and anyone who trades or consumes them is breaking the law. This body of work exposes the trade, while exploring aspects of illegality and celebrating the people who are trying to save these animals”. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Sony World Photography Awards 2020)

A boy with his bike is seen as rainbow appears after a rainfall in Edremit district of Van province in Turkey on July 08, 2020. (Photo by Ozkan Bilgin/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Ice Age – Tibet, China. “This is the Chinese version of the blue ice lake, Pumoungcuo, at an altitude of 5,070 metres (16,600 feet). This lake in Tibet freezes every winter. At night, under the low temperatures of -20C, you can listen to the sound of the ice cracking while capturing the most beautiful winter sky. The blue ice surface and dazzling Orion constellation create a fantasy landscape. I felt so happy to have the stars as my companion on this magical night”. (Photo by Daniel Zafra Portill/Milky Way Photographer of the Year)

Huang Wensi in action during her final training session in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, China, before she heads to Taiwan for her Asia Female Continental Super Flyweight Championship match, September 23, 2018. Huang is one of a small but growing number of women in China to embrace professional boxing, relishing its intense nature despite traditional stereotypes that steer women away from such activities. “A women is not just limited to being a wife or mother in the house”, she said. (Photo by Yue Wu/Reuters)

Sharafkhaneh port and lake Urmia. Masoud Ghadiri (Iran). The summer Milky Way is very prominent in this photo. On the galaxy zone, Saturn is located besides the Lagoon nebula. On the right of the horizon, you can see the extreme light pollution of Urmia, which is caused by ever-increasing city development. (Photo by Masoud Ghadiri/National Maritime Museum)

A boatman rests on his boat in the flooded Ganges river under the Shastri bridge at Daraganj Ghat, in Allahabad, India on August 22, 2019. (Photo by Sanjay Kanojia/AFP Photo)

A model poses in front of phone boxes for a photographer in London, United Kingdom on Friday, October 1, 2021. (Photo by Frank Augstein/AP Photo)

A Police officer reacts to protestors outside the Piet Retief Magistrates court where the five accused in the shooting of the Coka brothers on the Pampoenkraal farm appeared, Mhkondo, Mpumalanga, South Africa on April 19, 2021. (Photo by Jacques Nelles)