Wiki Loves Earth Contest 2015

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 continents—Europe, Asia, Africa and America.

During 2015, over 100,000 pictures were submitted by the 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:

Winning Photos from Wiki Loves Earth Contest 2015
First place: 2015 winner comes from Lower Kachura Lake, a popular tourist destination in Central Karakoram National Park, Skardu, Pakistan. — Image by Zaeem Siddiq
Winning Photos from Wiki Loves Earth Contest 2015
Second place: A view of the Laurisilva (laurel forest) of Madeira, Portugal. — Photo by Jnvalves
Winning Photos from Wiki Loves Earth Contest 2015
Third place: The Alpine ibex (Capra ibex), or Steinbock, in an Austrian national park in the Hohe Tauern mountain range. —Photo by Bernd Thaller
Winning Photos from Wiki Loves Earth Contest 2015
Fourth place: A spider (Misumena vatia) with a freshly killed bee in the Bratental nature reserve, near Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. — Photo by Suhaknoke
Winning Photos from Wiki Loves Earth Contest 2015
Fifth place: A European bee-eater (Merops apiaster) in Ichkeul National Park, Tunisia. — Photo by Elgollimoh
Winning Photos from Wiki Loves Earth Contest 2015
Sixth place: Carpathian Biosphere Reserve, Zakarpattia Oblast, Ukraine. — Photo by Vian and retouched by Iifar
Winning Photos from Wiki Loves Earth Contest 2015
Seventh place: Wolayer See and surrounding area, Carinthia, Austria. — Photo by Gerald Köstl
Winning Photos from Wiki Loves Earth Contest 2015
Eight place: Cormorants at dusk on the pond of Vaccarès, France. — Photo by Ddeveze
Winning Photos from Wiki Loves Earth Contest 2015
Ninth place: limestone stalagmites inside the Anhumas Abyss, Brasil. — Photo by Caio Vilela
Tenth place: High Tatras as seen from the Polish Spisz, Tatry Natura 2000 Special Area of Conservation, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland. — Photo by Łukasz Śmigasiewicz
Tenth place: High Tatras as seen from the Polish Spisz, Tatry Natura 2000 Special Area of Conservation, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland. — Photo by Łukasz Śmigasiewicz

By Postober Staff

Postober Staff brings you interesting and viral stories from a wide range of industries from the English speaking world.

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