Extraordinary tales of everyday heroism have been illustrated beautifully by renowned US photographer Steve McCurry in the new 2015 Lavazza Calendar. The calendar which has been created in collaboration with the Slow Food movement, features twelve breathtaking pictures, capturing the spirit, strength and humanity of the Earth Defenders – women and men who protect their land and projects in Africa with passion and bravery. The proceeds from sales of the calendar and all donations will be contributed entirely to create 10,000 food gardens in African schools and villages by the end of 2016. (Photo by Steve McCurry/2015 Lavazza Calendar)

The fourth annual BigPicture Natural World Photography Competition aims to celebrate the diversity of life on Earth, and encourages people to protect and conserve it. Here: “The Salmon Catchers”. Terrestrial Wildlife. To capture this view of a mother grizzly bear and her cub, photographer Peter Mather set up a camera trap on a log that he knew the bears tended to traverse while fishing for salmon, in the Yukon River watershed in Canada. (Photo by Peter Mather/BigPicture Natural World Photography Competition 2017)

These Eurasian Otters seem ready for any danger as they all stand up on thier hind legs alert to any threats near to the English river bank. Amateur photographer and retired MOD worker Tony Moir, 57, spotted the otters whilst looking for kingfishers to photograph near the river Trent in East Yorkshire, UK. He was able to take just a couple of pictures before the excited animals spotted the photographer and ran away. (Photo by Tony Moir/Solent News)

Anna Malova, Miss Russia 1998, poses on a pool table at The Campbell Apartment restaurant in Grand Central Station on November 18, 1999. She makes her motion picture debut in the movie “Above Ground”. (Photo by Richard Corkery/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)

A fan of England cheers prior to the UEFA EURO 2020 quarter final match between Ukraine and England in Rome, Italy, 03 July 2021. (Photo by Mike Hewitt /EPA/EFE)

Clouds cover the sky over the Ernst-Taehlmann-Park housing estate after a thunderstorm in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, March 11, 2021. (Photo by Markus Schreiber/AP Photo)

A bolt of lighting strikes over Lewiston, Idaho, behind the Interstate Bridge that spans the Snake River into Clarkston, Wash., on the morning of Thursday, July 1, 2021. Multiple thunderstorms moved through the area on Wednesday evening into Thursday morning. (Photo by Pete Caster/Lewiston Tribune via AP Photo)

A woman watches the rain from inside a stranded vehicle on a flooded street in Mianyang, Sichuan, China on July 11, 2018. (Photo by China News Service via Reuters)