Focus for Survival celebrates the natural world through photography.

Since its launch, the initiative has brought together powerful images from professional photographers, explorers, conservationists, celebrity supporters and photographers selected through our annual Focus for Survival competition.

Behind many of these photographs are stories of habitat loss, population decline, persecution, conflict and pollution. Others reveal conservation success, resilience and recovery.

Together, they offer a compelling reminder of the beauty, diversity and fragility of our planet,  and why protecting the wild matters.

_{Image at top: Artur Stankiewicz. Image on left: Jules Oldroyd – both Focus for Survival competition finalists}

_{Images below from left to right: Will Burrard Lucas, Peter Ian Chadwick, Fiona Mackay.}

Photography has the power to make people stop, look and care.

By sharing the story behind an image, Focus for Survival helps raise awareness of the pressures facing wildlife and wild places, while also generating funds for frontline conservation through exhibitions, print sales and our annual fundraising calendar.

Many images in the collection feature threatened species or vulnerable habitats, including species assessed on the IUCN Red List, the world’s most comprehensive source of information on the global conservation status of animals, fungi and plants.

Focus for Survival is not only about documenting decline. It is also about celebrating the resilience of the natural world and the people working to protect it.

^{Simon Hillbourne, Focus for Survival competition finalist}

Over the years, Focus for Survival has brought together work by some of the world’s most respected photographers, filmmakers, artists and conservation storytellers.

Contributors have included Sebastião Salgado, Ami Vitale, Paul Nicklen, Cristina Mittermeier, Michael Kenna, Richard Mosse, Beverly Joubert, Daniel Beltrá, Will Burrard-Lucas, Doug Allan, Gordon Buchanan, Bigert & Bergström, Paul Goldstein and Margot Raggett, among many others.

We have also been fortunate to receive support from well-known explorers and broadcasters. Travel writer and presenter Simon Reeve donated an image of a leopard photographed in Kenya, while explorers Levison Wood and Kingsley Holgate have also contributed photographs in support of the campaign.

Alongside these established names, Focus for Survival provides a platform for photographers from around the world through our free-to-enter photographic competition, giving emerging and amateur photographers the opportunity to see their work exhibited and used to support conservation.

^{Top: Extinction: Renewal Collection 2026 – Eden Project @Steve Tanner}

^{Bottom: Anirban Dutta, Focus for Survival competition finalist}

In 2026, we launched a new year-long exhibition,  Extinction: Renewal – Art of a Living Planet,  at the Eden Project.

The exhibition explores the pressures facing the natural world and the possibilities for recovery and renewal, using creative work to connect audiences with species, habitats and conservation projects around the world.

LOOKING AHEAD

Focus for Survival returns in 2027, with a renewed photographic competition and a new supporting partnership!

The competition will once again invite photographers to share exceptional images of wildlife and wild places, helping us celebrate the natural world while raising awareness and funds for conservation.

We’ll be revealing details about the Focus for Survival 2027 competition very soon…

^{Extinction: Renewal Collection 2026 – Eden Project @Steve Tanner}