In 2022, Wiki Loves Earth international photo contest supported the initiative Wiki4HumanRights, in partnership with the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Its goal is to raise awareness of nature protection and human impacts on nature.
Two countries submitted their photos this year: Germany and Portugal. The international jury for this year’s special nomination consists of 3 people:
- Maksym Gavrilyuk (Ukraine, an expert in Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group, Director of the National Institute of Natural and Agrarian Sciences at Bohdan Khmelnytsky National University of Cherkasy);
- Olivia Bonner (USA, Equitable Decarbonization Legal Fellow at Stanford Law School);
- Valentina Vera-Quiroz (USA, Human Rights, Tech, and Policy Fellow at Wikimedia Foundation).
Overall, we received 1,021 photos for this special nomination. After a review by the organizing team and two rounds of jury evaluation, we have the top-5 winners from Germany. Let’s meet them!
First place: In this photo, blackbirds are sitting on the stone and looking away at the Nordufer Wittow Rügen (nature reserve in Germany) with a beautiful gray background.
Second place: Here, we can see a charming yellow-blue view of wind turbines on the German north-sea coast. One of the jurors, Olivia Bonner, commented on this photo: “The natural light haloing around the wine turbines is very effective.”.
Third place: This picture presents two cute ducks confidently walking on the road near human civilization. One of the jurors, Olivia Bonner, commented on this photo: “This is a good photo to introduce some levity and absurdity into the conversation of biodiversity and human development.”.
Fourth place: Here is a picture of a beautiful white swan near the Rhine surrounded by rocks.
Fifth place: The contrast between nature and industry is shown. In the foreground, you can see the “Bergstraße-Nord” landscape protection area, where the photo was taken. In the background, you can see the biosphere reserve “Palatinate Forest”. One of the jurors, Olivia Bonner, commented on this photo: “This very clearly and starkly demonstrates the risk and perpetuation of pollution.”.
This year, a special nomination “Human rights and environment” was held for the second time. Last year, it attracted 8,116 photos from 9 countries; you can find last year’s winners here.
You can check the final results of Wiki Loves Earth 2022 here. And follow the project on social media to keep up with updates (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter)!
By Olesia Lukaniuk, Project Manager for Wiki Loves Earth International
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