Wetland Wonders Unveiled: Greenstorm Showcases Captivating Photos Highlighting Gorgeous Marshlands
The 16th edition of the Greenstorm Global Photography Festival, a key initiative by the Greenstorm Foundation, took place virtually last month. This annual event, which started 16 years ago by Dileep Narayanan, aims to promote nature conservation through visual storytelling, particularly engaging young people worldwide.
This year's festival, themed 'Beautiful Wetlands', attracted 11,835 entries from 155 countries. The Global Jury for the event included Charlie Waite (UK), Latika Nath (India), and Nick Hall (USA). Dr Muralee Thummarukudy, Director of the G20 Global Land Initiative (GLI) of the UNCCD, announced the winners.
Steven Triet from Vietnam clinched the Grand Prize of USD $10,000 for his photograph of the golden rice terraces of Lao Chai, Mu Cang Chai. Hanifi Ko (Turkey), Aref Tahmasebi (UAE) and Pepe Manzanilla (Costa Rica) received Special Jury Mentions, each carrying a prize of USD $1,000.
The Greenstorm Foundation, a global creative conservancy based in Kochi, India, has been successful in engaging over 12 million young minds across more than 150 countries. Its mission is to inspire an attitudinal shift towards environmental conservation among youth.
The impact of the Greenstorm Festival lies in its ability to engage a global audience by showcasing striking images that highlight the beauty and fragility of ecosystems. Over 16 years, it has effectively used photography as an emotional and educational tool to connect people with nature and motivate conservation actions among youth across the world.
The G20 GLI sponsored the festival for the second year running, aligning with its ambition to reduce degraded land globally by 50% by 2040. According to the 2025 Global Wetland Outlook, released last week, about one-fifth of the world's remaining wetlands are expected to vanish by 2050 without urgent action.
The winning photographs offer a breathtaking glimpse into the beauty and ecological diversity of the world's wetlands, telling stories of balance, survival, and the urgent need for conservation. Some of these photographs will be on display at the 15 meeting of the Contracting Parties of the Convention on Wetlands in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe from 23-30 July 2025.
Dr Musonda Mumba, Secretary General of the Convention on Wetlands, emphasised that wetlands are being degraded and destroyed faster than any other ecosystem. The Greenstorm Photo Festival aims to inspire actions to keep wetlands healthy and reduce degraded land by 50 percent by 2040, complementing broader global conservation efforts.
The Greenstorm Foundation's annual Global Photography Festival is a testament to the power of visual storytelling in promoting nature conservation and inspiring youth to take action. As the world grapples with the challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss, initiatives like the Greenstorm Photo Festival play a crucial role in fostering environmental stewardship and raising global awareness.
- The Greenstorm Foundation's annual Global Photography Festival, which has successfully engaged over 12 million young minds across 150 countries, showcases how innovation in visual storytelling can be a powerful tool in promoting environmental conservation.
- The festival's focus on events such as the Global Wetlands theme this year, highlights the significance of environmental science, particularly in subjects like wetlands and climate change, for health-and-wellness and fitness-and-exercise.
- The infrastructure supporting the event, like the virtual platform that accommodated entries from 155 countries this year, underscores the necessity of advanced systems for global collaboration in science and conservation.
- By inspiring an attitudinal shift among youth towards environmental conservation and motivating action, the festival contributes to efforts in reducing degraded land, a key aspiration of both the Greenstorm Foundation and the G20 Global Land Initiative (GLI).
