The Wildlife Photography Awards 2026 Terms & Conditions

These terms and conditions apply to the BBC Wildlife Magazine Wildlife Photography Awards 2026 competition.
The Promoter of the competition is Our Media Limited (company number 05715415) a company incorporated in England and Wales whose registered address is at Eagle House, Colston Avenue, Bristol, BS1 4ST (the “Promoter”).
The BBC Code of Conduct for competitions can be found at https://www.bbc.com/editorialguidelines/guidance/code-of-conduct and all BBC magazines comply with the Code.
The promotion is open to all residents of the UK, including the Channel Islands, aged 18 years or over, except the Promoter’s employees or contractors and anyone connected with the promotion or their direct family members.
The closing date for entries is 12:00 (noon) on 1 April 2026.
By entering the promotion, the participants agree:
1. to be bound by these terms and conditions;
2. that their entry is entirely your own work and does not infringe the intellectual property rights of any third parties;
3. to grant BBC Wildlife Magazine and all of its associated titles, websites and platforms published or operated by Our Media Limited a perpetual, royalty-free, worldwide and irrevocable licence to use, edit, reproduce and publish the submitted image(s) and accompanying text in any media, including online and in print;
4. that any identifiable individual featured in the entry has given their explicit consent to the use of their image and/or personal data as described above;
5. that their name and county of residence may be released if they win a prize; and
6. that should they win the promotion, their name and likeness may be used by the Promoter for pre-arranged promotional purposes.

Entrants should enter by completing the submission form on the BBC Wildlife Magazine Wildlife Photography Awards 2026 webpage (https://www.discoverwildlife.com/wildlifephotography-awards2026) with their wildlife photo, selection of an appropriate category, the entrant’s name and their email address. Entries received after the closing date of the promotion will not be considered.
Photos must be submitted in a digital format (JPEG or PNG). To ensure suitable quality for publication in print or online, images should ideally be between 1MB and 20MB in file size. The Promoter is not responsible for corrupted or unreadable files.
Entrants must supply to Our Media Limited their name and email. The Promoter will use entrants’ personal details in accordance with the Our Media Privacy Policy (https://policies.ourmedia.co.uk/privacy-policy/).
Entrants may submit one entry per category in the Competition, regardless of the method of entry. Bulk or automated entries submitted by third parties will not be accepted.
A panel of judges comprising members of the BBC Wildlife editorial team (the “Judging Panel”) will review all eligible entries. The judging panel will shortlist five photos for each of the five categories: Portraits, Behaviour, Plants and fungi, Camera phone and Environment.
The judging panel will assess entries using the following criteria:
- Image quality – clarity, lighting, and technical standard of the photograph;
- Composition – framing, focus, and visual balance;
- Originality – creativity and uniqueness of the entry;
- Relevance to category – how well the image and entry reflect the selected category;

Each entry will be scored independently by the judging panel. The top five scoring entries per category will progress to a public vote.

The Promoter reserves the right to moderate, reject, or remove entries that are incomplete, offensive, irrelevant, contain unlawful content, or are deemed not in the spirit of the Competition.
The public vote for the Competition shall open at 12:00 (noon) on 24 April 2026 and shall close at 12:00 (noon) on 14 May 2026. The entry with the highest number of votes in each category shall be named the winner of that category. From the category winners, the overall winner of the BBC Wildlife Magazine Photography Awards 2026 will be selected by independent wildlife photographer Andy Parkinson and the BBC Wildlife editorial team. The overall winner will therefore also be the winner of their respective category.
The Promoter reserves the right to disqualify votes deemed to be fraudulent, automated, or unfairly obtained (including through use of bots, scripts, or bulk voting services). Measures may be taken to check the legitimacy of votes received.
The winners will be publicly announced on https://www.discoverwildlife.com/wildlifephotography-awards2026 on 20 May 2026 and in the July 2026 issue of BBC Wildlife Magazine on sale from 2 July 2026. The Promoter will contact all winners within 10 working days of the public announcement using the contact details provided upon entry. If a winner does not respond within 10 working days of notification, the Promoter reserves the right to offer the prize to a runner-up or to re-offer the prize in a future promotion.
The outcome of the public vote is final and no correspondence relating to the Competition winners will be entered into. The Promoter may share winners' details with the Guyana Tourism Authority, (the “Prize Supplier”), and Wilderness Explorers, (the “Tour Operator”), solely for the purposes of prize fulfilment (including booking and administration). The Promoter is not responsible for any delay, failure, or dispute relating to the fulfilment of prize by the Prize Supplier or the Tour Operator.
The Prizes:

Overall Prize:

The overall winner of BBC Wildlife Magazine Wildlife Photography Awards 2026 shall win an eight-night package holiday to Guyana, South America, provided by the Tour Operator, Wilderness Explorers (https://wilderness-explorers.com/) on behalf of the Prize Supplier, Guyana Tourism Authority, for one person.

Overall Prize Key travel conditions:

Supplier/Tour Operator/airline terms apply: The Prize Supplier arranges the international flights, which are subject to the airline(s) conditions of carriage and fare rules. The land arrangements in Guyana are delivered by the Tour Operator and are subject to the Tour Operator’s standard booking and tour terms. The winner will be required to accept the applicable terms as part of booking and travel.
Not ATOL/ABTA protected: This prize is not ATOL or ABTA protected. The winner is responsible for arranging adequate travel insurance and for any costs and requirements not expressly included in the prize (including visas, vaccinations and personal spending).
Documents and fitness: The winner must hold a valid passport and any necessary visas/permits and must meet any health/fitness requirements reasonably necessary for the itinerary (which includes travel to remote locations and outdoor activities).
Changes / disruption: The itinerary may be modified, rescheduled or cancelled due to circumstances outside the Tour Operator’s reasonable control (including weather events and other force majeure events). Where possible, reasonable alternative arrangements will be offered, subject to availability.
Conduct: The winner must comply with local laws and reasonable safety instructions. The Tour Operator may end the winner’s participation in the trip where necessary for safety, welfare or serious misconduct.

Full prize details for the overall winner can be found at the end of these Terms & Conditions.

Runner-up Prizes:

The four runner-up category winners of BBC Wildlife Magazine Wildlife Photography Awards 2026 shall each receive a £50 Love2shop (https://www.love2shop.co.uk/) voucher to spend at permitted stores.

The voucher will be valid for 12 months and is subject to the Love2shop terms found here: https://www.love2shop.co.uk/product-terms.

The voucher will be supplied to the winners by the Promoter.

There is no cash alternative and the prize will not be transferable. Prizes must be taken as stated and cannot be deferred. The Promoter reserves the right to substitute the prize with one of the same or greater value.
The surname and county of residence of the winners will be available upon request by sending an SAE to BBC Wildlife Magazine Wildlife Photography Awards 2026 Eagle House, Colston Ave, Bristol BS1 4ST within two months of the closing date of the promotion. The Promoter will contact the winners before releasing this information and provide the winners the opportunity to object or limit the amount of information shared.
The Promoter reserves the right to amend these terms and conditions or to cancel, alter or amend the promotion at any stage, if deemed necessary in its opinion, or if circumstances arise outside of its control.
The Promoter does not accept any responsibility for lost, delayed or fraudulent entries.
The Promoter excludes liability to the full extent permitted by law for any loss, damage or injury occurring to the participant arising from his or her entry into the promotion or occurring to the winners arising from his or her acceptance of a prize.
The promotion is subject to the laws of England.

Full Prize Details for Overall Prize

Prize Supplier: Guyana Tourism Authority.
Tour Operator: Wilderness Explorers.

This prize is a 9 days / 8 nights holiday in Guyana, South America for 1 winner (aged 18+). Travel must take place between 1 July 2026 and 30 June 2027, departing from London Heathrow. Guides are in English, and the trip is best suited to people of reasonable fitness.

Itinerary (overview):

Day 1: Arrive Georgetown (Cara Lodge).
Day 2: Kaieteur Falls day trip.
Days 3–4: Rainforest lodge + Iwokrama highlights (including canopy walkway and an evening activity).
Days 5–6: Transfer toward Surama/Rupununi + community-based lodge stay + activities.
Day 7: Return to Georgetown + culinary experience.
Day 8: Georgetown market/city highlights + optional river tour.
Day 9: Departure.

This itinerary is an overview only. The precise order, timings, routing, activities, guides and accommodation may be amended by the Tour Operator due to weather, operational requirements, availability, safety considerations and/or other circumstances outside the Tour Operator’s reasonable control. Where possible, suitable alternatives will be provided.

Accommodation:
You’ll stay at Cara Lodge (Georgetown), Atta Rainforest Lodge (Iwokrama region) and Surama Eco-lodge (Rupununi region). Accommodation is single occupancy throughout.

Accommodation may be substituted with comparable accommodation of a similar standard, subject to availability and operational requirements.

Meals:
Meals are included only to the extent specified by the Tour Operator’s programme and the accommodation arrangements. Unless otherwise notified at booking, this will usually include breakfast, lunch and dinner on full trip days, and breakfast only on the departure day. Any meals and drinks not included (including alcoholic drinks) are the winner’s responsibility.

What’s included / excluded:
Included are the return international economy flights from London Heathrow to Guyana (arranged by Guyana Tourism Authority), the standard airline baggage allowance (confirmed at booking), 8 nights’ accommodation, airport transfers and transport within Guyana (including internal flights where applicable), local guides and included activities, and meals as set out in the Tour Operator’s programme.

Not included is travel to/from London Heathrow, spending money, alcohol, travel insurance, visas, personal items/expenses, ATOL/ABTA protection, and anything not expressly listed as included.

Booking requirements and terms:
You must confirm travel dates at least 30 days in advance (subject to availability) and within the travel window above. Passport details and any dietary requirements are required for booking, and passports must be valid for 6 months beyond the return date. The winner is responsible for arranging (and paying for) any required visas, vaccinations and travel insurance.

All bookings are subject to (a) the Tour Operator’s standard booking and tour terms and conditions (Wilderness Explorers – Terms and Conditions: (Wilderness Explorers – Terms and Conditions) in respect of the land arrangements in Guyana, and (b) the relevant airline(s)’ conditions of carriage and fare rules in respect of the international flights arranged by the Prize Supplier.