Guardian of the Mangroves – Overall Winner. Tanya Houppermans, Cuba. A curious American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) swims right up to Tanya, at Gardens of the Queen (Jardines De La Reina), an archipelago off the coast of Cuba. It has been strictly protected since 1996, and is one of the most untouched marine ecosystems in the world. ‍ “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”. (Photo by Tanya Griffin Houppermans/Mangrove Photographer of the Year)

Oil pools in a leaf on the beach following an oil slick at Tanjong Beach in Sentosa, Singapore on June 15, 2024. (Photo by Edgar Su/Reuters)

Fishermen repair brightly coloured nets before their next trip to the River Matla in West Bengal, India in the last decade of July 2025. (Photo by Avishek Das/Solent News & Photo Agency)

Workers demonstrate outside the factory of Hua Yang Printing Holdings Co Ltd on October 30, 2007 in Shenzhen of Guangdong Province, China. Over 1,000 workers of the company have blocked the 107 State Highway where the firm is located, to protest against their employer, who owed half a month's salary to the workers. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

A farmer is seen hanging from a tree during a rally organized by Aam Aadmi (Common Man) Party (AAP) in New Delhi April 22, 2015. The farmer hanged himself from a tree during a political rally in New Delhi on Wednesday, in what appeared to be a desperate protest against the hardship felt by many people scratching a living in rural India. Four people climbed the tree to try to save the man after he was seen hanging. (Photo by Adnan Abidi/Reuters)

A school girl reacts as a health worker inoculates her with the dose of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against the Covid-19 coronavirus for the 12-15 years age group at an educational institution in Colombo on January 7, 2022. (Photo by Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP Photo)

A child plays beside an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, the day after it was immersed in the Yamuna river for the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Delhi, India September 6, 2017. (Photo by Cathal McNaughton/Reuters)

Customers play with cats to find comfort at the Caturday Cat cafe after the government started opening some restaurants outside shopping malls, parks and barbershops, during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Bangkok, Thailand on May 7, 2020. (Photo by Juarawee Kittisilpa/Reuters)