These elegant and serene photos pay homage to a vital yet diminishing ecosystem: mangrove forests. The shots are some of the top entries in this year鈥檚 , telling the story of the beauty, diversity and fragility of mangrove trees, which grow in salty, coastal waters 鈥� in stark contrast to most other trees.

Shown above is a dramatic photograph of a central strip of mangroves flanking the brilliant blue coast of the United Arab Emirates. Taken by photographer Ammar Alsayed Ahmed, the image was highly commended in the competition鈥檚 Mangroves & Landscapes category.

The top spot in this category was won by another of Alsayed Ahmed鈥檚 shots, which shows a gracefully winding river (shown above). The golden clumps of mangrove trees dotted along its length highlight the verdancy these forests bring to the area.

Unfortunately, this isn鈥檛 the case for an increasing number of mangrove forests worldwide. Despite being biodiversity hotspots and significant carbon stores that help offset climate change, mangroves are under threat from factors like logging, aquaculture and water pollution, in turn threatening the wildlife and people that depend on them.

These include species like lemon sharks, a juvenile pair of which feature in Jillian Morris鈥檚 entry (pictured above), taken in the Bahamas and highly commended in the Mangroves & Underwater category. Lemon sharks spend the first few years of their lives in mangrove 鈥渘urseries鈥� and are one of the many marine species that dwell there.

In Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, an ambitious project to plant and restore coastal mangroves is underway. The聽聽is part of a nationwide effort to plant 100 million mangrove trees by 2030 across the UAE. In 2023 alone, it distributed over six million seeds using specially adapted drones.