Focus for Survival is a celebration of Mother Nature through photography. By celebrating nature we can help to protect it.

In the last eight years we have showcased a small selection of images generously donated by our patrons, adventurers, explorers, conservationists, celebrity supporters and professional photographers. These include Sebastiao Salgado, Richard Mosse, Beverly Joubert, Daniel Beltra, Michael Kenna, Will Burrard Lucas, Doug Allen, Daryl Balfour, James Suter, Robin Moore, Peter Ian Chadwick, Paul Goldstein, Margot Raggett, BBC cameraman Gordon Buchanan, travel writer/presenter Simon Reeve and explorers Levison Wood and Kingsley Holgate.

In addition we run a free-to-enter photographic competition to showcase images captured all around the world. This competition is open to everyone and is a way to support conservation in action.

Your entry must be an original photograph taken by you featuring some aspect of the the natural / wild world.

The image can be taken anywhere geographically in the world and feature any aspect of nature,  for example, plant, animal, mountain, forest, ocean etc but it must be taken by you in a wild environment.

We do not accept images taken of animals in captivity. Although some of these animals are important conservation ambassadors, with an important story,  the selection panel feel it is unfair to compare an image taken in the wild with an image taken in a captive environment.

Images should be landscape orientation as the 12 finalists images will feature in a calendar – please do not submit images cropped to a square for Instagram.

To be eligible, you must complete the submission form.

Any image not fulfilling the criteria laid out above will unfortunately be discounted from selection.

The initiative helps to raise awareness about the natural world.  Sales of the calendar help to raise much needed funds.

Finalists enjoy heightened profile,  being shared both online, at exhibition venues and with the press.

In 2022 Patrick Mueller’s chameleon was featured in Travel Africa magazine and the Saturday edition of the Daily Telegraph.

Anyone can enter – professional, amateur, hobby or student. You can live anywhere in the world.

**Please note: if you are under the age of 16 you must email a consent note from a parent/guardian/teacher giving permission to enter with the subject: “Focus for Survival Under 16 consent – Your name” – please send this to info@realworldconservation.org.uk**

The submission phase runs from March to August.

Simply follow the ‘Enter Here’ link between March and August 2026.

The form is very quick and easy to complete and simply requires you to fill in all the fields on the form.

When you have completed the form you will be asked to attach your image as a jpeg file  – please provide an image under 5MB in size – we will contact the 12 finalists if we require a larger file for printing/exhibiting.

The title of your file must include YOUR NAME 

The competition is free-to-enter.

You attach your photo to your entry form.

We are accepting submissions until 2359 GMT on 31 August.

The 12 finalists receive a logo they can display as they wish.

All the finalists’ images will be screen displayed during our exhibition tour, and they will also be profiled via our online channels. They will help to support our Projects and wider campaign through the sale of a charity calendar.

In addition they:

• have the opportunity to win the People’s Choice award voted for by the public. The winner receives an engraved trophy.

The short-listed images selected by our expert panel from the 12 finalists will have their image printed, framed and exhibited for our UK exhibition tour.  Exhibition images will be auctioned online in aid of our projects. In addition they:

• have the opportunity to win the  Focus for Survival Photographer of the Year award. The winner receives an engraved trophy and a winner’s logo which they can display as they wish. The short-listed photographers will be invited to the Private View event in November in London.

There are two stages.

After the submission deadline, all entries will be checked for eligibility and 12 finalists announced on the Explorers Against Extinction website on 1 October.

These 12 images go forward to our People’s Choice vote which opens that month. The People’s Choice winner is announced in November at our Private View event in London.

From the finalists our panel will short-listup to four images.

The selection panel features guests judges and trustees – in the past the panel has included patrons and professional photographers including Noril Jemil, James Lowen,  Will Burrard-Lucas ,  Sue Flood, Paul Goldstein and Levison Wood .

There are two awards:

Focus for Survival People’s Choice Award

This award is chosen by the public, through an online vote open in October. All 12 finalists’ images are eligible.

Focus for Survival Photographer of the Year Award

This award is chosen by our panel from a short-list of four.

Results are announced at our Private View event in London and shortly afterwards online.

You do.

If you are a finalist we reserve the right to print your image in our charity calendar as laid out in these guidelines, and/or for exhibiton purposes or press and promotion associated directly with the campaign. We will take all reasonable measures to ensure the photographer is correctly credited by name.

For all entries we reserve the right to use the photos in association with the campaign digitally. In all cases the photographer retains all rights beyond these competition requirements.

Read full terms and conditions below:

Terms and Conditions
These terms and conditions govern the Focus for Survival Photography Competition 2026.
The organisers reserve the right to modify these terms and conditions without notice.
The competition organiser is Real World Conservation . UK Reg Charity No
1212387 – working name Explorers Against Extinction.
By accepting the Terms & Conditions of the competition and subsequently submitting your images,
you have entered into an agreement with RWCT.
The competition is open to photographers worldwide, except for employees of Real World
Conservation, their immediate families, agents, or anyone else associated with administration
of this competition.
If you are under the age of 18 you must have permission to enter from your parent or guardian. By
submitting an entry for the competition, your parent/carer/guardian is deemed to have given such
consent and to agree to the use of the entry as described in these terms and conditions.
Your entry must be submitted digitally via the process outlined on explorersagainstextinction.co.uk
Closing date for receipt of all entries is 2359 GMT on 31 August 2026.
By submitting images to the competition, each entrant confirms and warrants that they are the sole
author of each entry and that it is their original work, and that the information submitted is true and
accurate and complete in every respect.
Images submitted online should be in JPEG format and must be 2MB-5MB in size. Entries must not
have been a ‘winner’ in any other photographic competition.
Entries are limited to three maximum per person.
An image will be rejected if it appears to have been taken in such a way that wildlife law or animal
welfare requirements may have been breached or it has been otherwise taken in an irresponsible
way.
All plants must be non-cultivated.
Domestic pets and farm animals are not eligible, nor is captive wildlife photographed in zoos, or
similar locations.
RWCT reserves the right to remove or refuse any entries from the competition for any reason.
The selection panel will assess all eligible entries. The panel’s decision is final, and no
correspondence will be entered in to.
Digital adjustments are acceptable; however, the way in which any digital enhancement or editing
has been used will be taken into account when judging the entry. Cropping is allowed.
The 12 finalists will be announced on 1 October 2026 on the website. All the finalists will be
displayed in an online gallery and screen displayed during the UK exhibition.
The shortlist will be announced on the website. These will be printed, framed and exhibited
during the UK exhibition.
The winners in each category (People’s Choice and Focus for Survival Photographer of the Year will
be announced at an Explorers Against Extinction event. Results will be shared to the website and
across social media.
By entering the competition, you grant RWC a non-exclusive, irrevocable licence to reproduce,
enlarge, publish or exhibit, on any media, the images for any purpose to further its aims and
objectives. These include the right to publish any of the entries as outlined in the competition
guidelines (e.g, in the calendar) on its website explorersagainstextinction.co.uk and to share them
through its digital channels; and to use the finalists’ images for the purposes of publicising the
photography competition and the work of RWC, for example in the press and in conjunction with
the main sponsors and partners. The organisers will make every reasonable effort to ensure that
name credits are given to any photograph published in any medium.
Email addresses will only be used by RWC for updates on the competition and with regards to the
campaign as a whole. They will not be disclosed to any other parties.
There is no alternative to the prize offered and prizes are non-transferable.
The winner agrees to participate in any reasonable publicity required by the RWC and to the use of
your name and photograph in such publicity.
To the maximum extent permitted by law, RWC excludes its liability for any loss, damage, injury,
cost or expense suffered by you, whether directly or indirectly and howsoever caused, in connection
with the competition and use of any prize.
You agree to indemnify RWC and keep RWC indemnified against any loss, damage, injury, cost or
expense suffered by RWC as a result of your entry in the competition, including (but not limited to)
any claim of infringement of intellectual property rights made by any third party.
The information given in these Terms & Conditions is correct, but RWC reserves the right to change
any of it without prior notice. By entering the competition, entrants will be deemed to have agreed
to be bound by these Terms & Conditions. Any breach of these Terms by an entrant will void their
entry.
These Terms and Conditions shall be governed and construed in accordance with English Law and
will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.
Promoter: Real World Conservation. Registered Address: Happisburgh, Norwich, Norfolk,
NR12 0QQ