The annual award celebrates powerful imagery that showcases the revival of Europe\u2019s wild nature through rewilding.<\/p>
This year\u2019s top prize has gone to\u00a0Staffan Widstrand for his image\u00a0‘Iberian lynx’, which depicts the resurgence of one of Europe’s most iconic predators in its natural habitat, and highlights the importance of predator-prey dynamics in rewilding.\u00a0<\/p>
We take a look at this year’s winning photos \u2013 and the stories behind the shots.<\/p>
Rewilding Europe Award 2024 winners<\/h2>Hope for the future of our rivers, highly commended\/Arthur de Bruin, Rewilding Europe<\/figcaption><\/figure>After decades, the breeding programme for the European sea sturgeon\u00a0(Acipenser sturio<\/em>) is showing the first signs of success with offspring being\u00a0released into the river Rhine. <\/p>The reintroductionof such endangered, yet\u00a0formerly widespread, fish species gives us hope. Why else should we\u00a0preserve these animals if not in the hope that our rivers will once again\u00a0become home to locally extinct fish species?<\/p>![\"Huchen](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2024\/10\/bernhard_schubert_huchen_habitat.jpg\")
Huchen habitat, runner-up\/Bernhard Schubert, Rewilding Europe<\/figcaption><\/figure>A pair of huchen (Hucho hucho<\/em>), also known as Danube salmon, swim\u00a0above a spawning pit dug by the female in the streambed. That huchen\u00a0make it this far in their life cycle cannot be taken for granted. Being able\u00a0to migrate to their spawning grounds requires barrier-free access.\u00a0Insurmountable weirs are only one of the many challenges facing the fish.\u00a0Sections of river that are left wild as here on the Pielach in Austria are\u00a0essential.<\/p>- Europe is dismantling its dams at a record-breaking rate \u2013 and it’s saving rivers<\/a><\/li><\/ul>
![\"King](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2024\/10\/florian_smit_koenig_des_ostens.jpg\")
King of the East, highly commended\/Florian Smit, Rewilding Europe<\/figcaption><\/figure>This photograph shows one of the numerous European bisons (Bison\u00a0bonasus<\/em>) reintroduced to Poland’s Bialowieza National Park near the\u00a0border with Belarus. In 1927, the last free-living bison in the Caucasus\u00a0was shot and the species was considered extinct inthe wild in Europe.\u00a0With the help of a small group of animals from zoological gardens and\u00a0private owners, the European bison was saved from extinction. As of\u00a02023, around 7,200 individuals exist in Europe. However, habitat\u00a0fragmentation and low genetic diversity continue to pose challenges to the\u00a0survival of this species.<\/p>
After decades, the breeding programme for the European sea sturgeon\u00a0(Acipenser sturio<\/em>) is showing the first signs of success with offspring being\u00a0released into the river Rhine. <\/p> The reintroductionof such endangered, yet\u00a0formerly widespread, fish species gives us hope. Why else should we\u00a0preserve these animals if not in the hope that our rivers will once again\u00a0become home to locally extinct fish species?<\/p> A pair of huchen (Hucho hucho<\/em>), also known as Danube salmon, swim\u00a0above a spawning pit dug by the female in the streambed. That huchen\u00a0make it this far in their life cycle cannot be taken for granted. Being able\u00a0to migrate to their spawning grounds requires barrier-free access.\u00a0Insurmountable weirs are only one of the many challenges facing the fish.\u00a0Sections of river that are left wild as here on the Pielach in Austria are\u00a0essential.<\/p> This photograph shows one of the numerous European bisons (Bison\u00a0bonasus<\/em>) reintroduced to Poland’s Bialowieza National Park near the\u00a0border with Belarus. In 1927, the last free-living bison in the Caucasus\u00a0was shot and the species was considered extinct inthe wild in Europe.\u00a0With the help of a small group of animals from zoological gardens and\u00a0private owners, the European bison was saved from extinction. As of\u00a02023, around 7,200 individuals exist in Europe. However, habitat\u00a0fragmentation and low genetic diversity continue to pose challenges to the\u00a0survival of this species.<\/p>
![\"Seeds](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2024\/10\/lewis_jefferies_die_saat_der_hoffnung.jpg\")
![\"Iberian](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2024\/10\/staffan_widstrand_iberischer_luchs.jpg\")