See the stunning winning photographs from Wiki

Loves Earth 2015

0 COMMENTSBY VIRA MOTORKO ON OCTOBER 15TH, 2015
This post is available in 2 languages: English

Our 2015 winner comes from Lower Kachura Lake, a popular tourist destination in Central

Karakoram National Park, Skardu, Pakistan. Image by Zaeemsiddiq, freely licensed under CC-bySA 3.0.

Wiki Loves Earth, a competition where participants take photographs of protected

natural areas and upload their photos to Wikimedia Commons, was held internationally
for the second time in 2015 with 26 countries. The contest is over, and we are now
able to present the international winners.
The goal of Wiki Loves Earth is two-fold. First, we aim to photograph as many natural
monuments and protected areas as possible and release the imagery under a free
license. Second, we contribute to environmental protection by raising public
awareness.
The idea of Wiki Loves Earth began in Ukraine in 2013. In 2014, Wiki Loves Earth was
joined by 15 other countries from four different continentsEurope, Asia, Africa and
America.
During 2015, over 100,000 pictures were submitted by nearly 9,000 participants.
Wiki Loves Earth was organised through numerous national contests, coordinated by
local volunteers. The national juries then submitted up to 10 pictures to the
international stage of the contest. With 26 participating countries, the international jury
had to consider a total of 259 candidate pictures. The jury selected and ranked the
photos in several stages by means of a dedicated web tool.
The international jury was composed of 9 photographers from different countries, all
experienced in nature photography: Dmytro Balkhovitin (Ukraine), Matthew Buck
(Great Britain), Dietmar Bartz (Germany), Walaa Abdel Manaem (Egypt), Alex Wang
(USA), Katerina Zareva-Simeonova (Bulgaria), Zeynel Cebeci (Turkey), Susanne
Plank (Austria), and Yathin Krishnappa (India).
After careful evaluation jury members have selected the following images, in addition
to the winning image above.

Second place: a view of the Laurisilva (laurel forest) of Madeira, Portugal. Photo by Jnvalves, freely
licensed under CC-by-SA 3.0.

Third place: the Alpine ibex (Capra ibex), or Steinbock, in an Austrian national park in the Hohe
Tauernmountain range. Photo by Bernd Thaller, freely licensed under CC-by-SA 3.0.

Fourth place: a spider (Misumena vatia) with a freshly killed bee in the Bratental nature reserve,
near Gttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Photo by Suhaknoke, freely licensed under CC-by-SA
3.0.

Fifth place: a European bee-eater (Merops apiaster) in Ichkeul National Park,

Tunisia. Photo byElgollimoh, freely licensed under CC-by-SA 3.0.

Sixth place: Carpathian Biosphere Reserve, Zakarpattia Oblast, Ukraine. Photo by Vian and
retouched by Iifar, freely licensed under CC-by-SA 4.0.

Seventh place: Wolayer See and surrounding area, Carinthia, Austria. Photo by GeKo15, freely
licensed under CC-by-SA 3.0.

Eight place: cormorants at dusk on the pond of Vaccars, France. Photo by Ddeveze, freely
licensed under CC-by-SA 3.0.

Ninth place: limestone stalagmites inside the Anhumas Abyss, Brasil. Photo by Caio Vilela, freely
licensed under CC-by-SA 3.0.

Tenth place: High Tatras as seen from the Polish Spisz, Tatry Natura 2000 Special Area of
Conservation, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland. Photo by ukasz migasiewicz, freely licensed
under CC-by-SA 3.0 (pl).

Eleventh place: Greater flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus), Salines de Thyna Ramsar site,
Tunisia.Photo by Elgollimoh, freely licensed under CC-by-SA 3.0.

Twelfth place: Khlong Lan Waterfall, Khlong Lan National Park, Kamphaeng Phet Province,
Thailand.Photo by Khunkay, freely licensed under CC-by-SA 3.0.

Thirteenth place: the Malakatyn River at Bolshoy Lyakhovsky Island, part of the Lena Delta Wildlife
Reserve, Sakha, Russia. Photo by Boris Solovyev, freely licensed under CC-by-SA 3.0.

Fourteenth place: Morning in Tolkuse bog, Luitemaa Nature Conservation Area, Prnu County,
Estonia.Photo by Mrt Kose, freely licensed under CC-by-SA 3.0.

Fifteenth place: Lines left after skiing on the snowy slopes of Baba Mountain, Pelister National Park,
Macedonia. Photo by Ptahhotep, freely licensed under CC-by-SA 4.0.

Special nomination: Apis Mellifera dronemoment at birth, Ribeiro Preto, Brasil. This image

received a high rating from the jurors, but as it was not taken in a protected area, it was not eligible
for an award.Photo by Jonathan Wilkins, freely licensed under CC-by-SA 3.0.

The full report of the international jury, explaining the work of the jury, selection
process and presenting the results together with comments of the jury, is available.
Congratulations to the winners and thank you for everyone who worked on
organisation of the contest this year!
Vira Motorko
Wiki Loves Earth international team