James Rolevink, A Little Joy (ANIMAL & NATURE 2024)

Australia is a geological time-capsule, home to a simply breathtaking array of ancient plants-and-animals, habitats-and-landscapes, and the oldest continuous living culture on planet Earth. The Mount Lofty Ranges, traditional home of the Peramangk people, is just one of our many spectacular biodiversity hotspots, actually under consideration for a World-Heritage listing. And while this might sound pretty cool, in this context, “hotspot” refers to catastrophic-decline caused by human-interference. In fact, we’re now responsible for some of the worst extinction rates and mass habitat destruction in human-history. With Climate-Change making it worse, when we lost everything in the 2019 Bushfires, I knew I just had to step-up. The question you have to ask yourself is: if not me, who? And if not now, when? These photos are part of a much larger series telling the critical story of the healing power of Nature. It’s a showcase of some of the amazing life going on right under our noses that most people don’t even notice! These stunningly beautiful creatures thrive in our purpose-built garden, proving you don’t have to be Sir David Attenborough to make a difference; you can do your bit right at home in your own garden. As the present day custodians, it’s on us to care for this ancient landscape until we pass it on to the next generation.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.