The British Wildlife Photography Awards proudly announce the winners for 2019. The awards celebrate the work of amateur and professional photographers and the beauty and diversity of British wildlife.

The winning images were chosen from thousands of entries, including two junior categories to encourage young people to connect with nature through photography.

To mark its tenth anniversary and help raise awareness about our coast; its incredible biodiversity and the threats it is facing, BWPA expanded the Coast and Marine category to include Wales, Scotland, England, and Northern Ireland & the Coast of Ireland.

The Overall Winning image: 
Behind Bars (Grey heron), London, Daniel Trim

Grey herons thrive around London’s wilder waterways, but they also do well in more urban settings such as the smaller parks and canals. This individual was hunting in the cover of a bridge. The morning light shining through a grill gives the impression that the bird is trapped as it gazes out through the mesh.

Ben Cook, from The Wildlife Trusts which sponsors the Urban Wildlife category said:

“These captivating photographs offer a vivid glimpse of stunning wildlife and wild places.  From a sleek seal patrolling turquoise waters, to pigeons soaring in the watery sunlight of a misty dawn, these images highlight the beauty and diversity of the natural world around us.

“Overall Winner – Daniel Trim’s solitary heron standing in urban rubbish – serves as a stark reminder of the threats that wildlife has to contend with, and what we risk losing unless we stand together and work for nature’s recovery.”

Conservationist, and award-winning writer Mark Carwardine said:

 “Who needs penguins or polar bears when we have puffins and badgers?

With so many photographers scouring the globe for exotic megafauna, it’s easy to forget how much wildlife we have in our own small and densely populated backyard. A red fox running across a field, a blue tit on the bird table, or a red kite over the motorway. We are very fortunate in having an outstanding biodiversity in this country – so it’s not surprising that British Wildlife Photography Awards has become one of the most eagerly anticipated events in the wildlife photography calendar.

We are surrounded by seas teeming with an astonishing abundance and diversity of marine wildlife. We provide a home for about eight million breeding seabirds, and everything from otters to basking sharks and white-tailed eagles. Indeed, there are estimated to be 15,000 marine species living in UK seas altogether.

But we do a shockingly bad job of looking after them. We take out far too many fish and shellfish, often catching them in destructive ways that have devastating impacts on other wildlife, and we use the seas as a dumping ground for an insidious tide of plastic waste and all sorts of other pollution.”

The best entries for this year’s competition are showcased in a sumptuous book, British Wildlife Photography Awards 10, which Mark Carwardine hopes will encourage people to enter next year, he says:

 “Most of all, I hope it will inspire you to get involved, to take an active part in protecting our precious wildlife. It really does need all the help it can get.”

View all the winning Images, including the video winner and a selection of highly commended entries here: www.bwpawards.org

You can see these amazing photographs in London and then on tour (check opening times with venues).