The key facts
- Winners were selected from nearly 2,800 entries by photographers from 35 countries in the 'harmony', 'destruction' and 'renewal' categories
- The youth award went to 18-year-old Denat Lahi from Lund, Sweden, for a photo of a pine marten
- The public choice prize went to an aerial shot of melting snow in the Icelandic Highlands
EEA Contest Winners
The European Environment Agency (EEA) has announced the results of its annual 'Resilient by Nature' photo contest. Participants from 35 countries submitted nearly 2,800 entries, from which an external jury selected winners in three categories — 'harmony', 'destruction' and 'renewal' — and awarded a youth prize; separately, an online vote was held for the public choice award. The contest is free and open to citizens of Europe and EEA member countries aged 18 and over.
Three Perspectives on the Human-Nature Relationship
In the 'harmony' category, the winner was 'Refuge' by Ali Aslan — an aerial view of the Dalyan delta in Turkey's Muğla province, which has held the status of a Special Environmental Protection Area since the 1980s. Strict conservation measures have helped curb tourist development: the ecosystem is home to more than 150 bird species, rare endemic sweetgum forests grow there, and loggerhead sea turtles nest on İztuzu Beach, for whose protection seasonal night-time restrictions and a ban on pets are in force. In the 'destruction' category, the work of Spaniard Julián Fernández Quiles, 'Pollution Pipe', was recognized: he placed a wide-angle camera with a remote shutter release inside a drainage pipe and captured a water rail probing a disposable mask, bottle caps and a crushed can with its beak. In the 'renewal' category, the winner was Elitsa Mihaylova from Sofia with a photo of a green shoot breaking through scorched earth — according to the caption, it looks 'fragile, almost impossible, yet full of quiet strength'.
Youth Award and Public Choice Prize
The youth award went to 18-year-old Denat Lahi from Lund, Sweden. As he told the PetaPixel website, he spends weeks mapping territories, photographing animal droppings and cross-checking data with local wildlife databases to find the best shooting spots. Using night camera traps and motion sensors, he captured a pine marten exploring a half-collapsed barn — a rare shot of the nocturnal forays of these secretive animals into the human environment. The public choice prize went to an aerial photograph by Radoslav Sviretsov, 'Tree of Life': melting snow traces lines resembling roots and branches across the Icelandic Highlands, amid spreading green moss. According to the publication, although snow there usually melts between May and June, warmer springs caused by climate change are making it disappear earlier and earlier, while mild winters hinder snow accumulation and disrupt water cycles.
Context: Europe's Nature Under Pressure
The contest took place against the backdrop of alarming data on the state of the environment. According to the latest EEA report, more than 80% of protected natural habitats in Europe are in poor or very poor condition, and Europe is the fastest-warming continent in the world. According to the European Commission, 2026 turned out to be one of the worst years for wildfires: by August, nearly 700,000 hectares had burned — almost twice the average for the past 20 years. The contest results coincided in timing with the COP31 summit and the COP17 biodiversity negotiations, which concluded on 31 October with a new roadmap — and a UN report stating that the world is falling behind on its 2030 nature conservation targets.
