[imagesource: Alain Schroeder/TNC photo contest 2021]

Studies have shown that just looking at photos of nature lowers work stress levels.

Consider the next few minutes an investment in yourself.

Earlier this week, The Nature Conservancy unveiled the winners of its 2021 Photo Contest, selected from more than 100 000 entrants.

That photo above, taken by Alain Schroeder, shows a young female orangutan named Brenda in Indonesia and claimed top spot in the people and nature category.

Let’s run through the rest of the winners and best snaps with the help of The Guardian.

Grand prize winner: Anup Shah, UK: a female western lowland gorilla Malui, walks through a cloud of butterflies she has disturbed in Bai Hokou, Dzanga Sangha special dense forest reserve, Central African Republic.

Landscape first place: Daniel De Granville Manço, Brazil: The carcass of a Pantanal alligator in the dry soil on the banks of the Transpantaneira highway, municipality of Poconé (Mato Grosso). The photo was taken with a drone on 4 October 2020, at the height of the droughts that hit the Pantanal that year.

People and nature third place: Şebnem Coşkun, Turkey: ‘Covid-19 wastes’ are a new danger to aquatic life. According to a World Wildlife Fund report, an equivalent to 33,880 plastic bottles is being mixed into the Mediterranean Sea per minute, with waste washing up on the shores of Italy and Turkey.

Water second place: Joram Mennes, Mexico: Three levels of leisure: swimmers, freedivers and divers enjoy their respective sport and recreational activities in a fresh water mass known locally as the Cenotes.

Wildlife first place: Buddhilini de Soyza, Australia: Incessant rains in the Masai Mara national reserve in Kenya have caused the the Talek river to flood. This group of five male cheetahs, who received the nickname ‘Tano Bora’ ( the fast five), were looking to cross this river in terrifyingly powerful currents. ‘It seemed a task doomed to failure and we were delighted when they made it to the other side,’ De Soyza said. ‘This was a timely reminder of the damage wreaked by human induced climate change.’

Honorable Mention, People and Nature: Minqiang Lu, China: In Yunnan, China, May 2021.

Honorable Mention, Wildlife: Thomas Vijayan, Canada:  Orangutans are accustomed to live on trees and feed on wild fruits like lychees, mangosteens, and figs, and slurp water from holes in trees.

Honorable Mention, Wildlife: Anup Shah, United Kingdom: Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya. During the frenzy of crossing the Mara River, the wildebeests were leaping, kicking, scampering and bucking.

Those studies were right. I do feel less stressed.

I’m also rocking the 4-7-8 Method so I’m sure that helps.

You’ll find all the winners, as well as runners-up and commended photos, here.

[source:guardian]