Jan Wieczorek Won Rewilding Europe Photography Award
The photographer earned top honors for his image capturing urban beavers coexisting with human development in Poland.
Updated on Oct. 1, 2026 in Wildlife
Live Poll
Do you believe wildlife can successfully coexist with human expansion in your local community?
Photographer Jan Wieczorek has won the annual Rewilding Europe Award for his photograph titled Urban Beavers. The winning image features a beaver family in Olsztyn, Poland, juxtaposed against a background containing a construction crane and a road.
Why it matters
The contest highlights photography that illustrates rewilding in motion and the possibility of humans and wildlife successfully sharing space. It serves to showcase how nature continues to adapt to encroaching infrastructure.
The winning image resulted from 15 years of observation of a beaver family by Wieczorek. Other rewilding efforts in Europe include the management of a 2,000-hectare wilderness area in Anklamer Stadtbruch and efforts to grow European bison populations beyond 10,000.
The players
Jan Wieczorek
He is an award-winning nature photographer whose work focuses on the intersection of urban life and wildlife.
Rewilding Europe
This is a non-profit organization dedicated to making Europe a wilder place by restoring natural processes and wildlife populations.
Christoph Kaula
He is a professional photographer who received runner-up honors in the competition for his portrait of a European hamster.
The details
The photograph was selected by representatives from Rewilding Europe, the German Society for Nature Photography, and the European Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest. It emphasizes the photographer's vision of demonstrating that wildlife can survive alongside urban environments.
Timeline
A massive storm created the Anklamer Stadtbruch wilderness area in the 1990s.
Jan Wieczorek observed the beaver family in Olsztyn over a span of 15 years.
Jan Wieczorek won the Rewilding Europe Award in 2026.
Culture Shift
The competition exists within the institutional framework of the European Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest, which promotes photography as a tool for environmental advocacy. This award marks a specific turn toward documenting the integration of wild species into anthropogenic landscapes.
The photographer's long-term project demonstrates the patience required to document local ecosystem changes over 15 years. It encourages residents to look for and appreciate the native wildlife that may be adapting to live within their own immediate surroundings.
The takeaway
This award reinforces the idea that nature conservation is not limited to remote wilderness but can occur in our own backyards. Implementing a watchful approach to local nature can reveal significant ecological developments happening in plain sight.
Further reading
Explore more about global conservation efforts in our Wildlife section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by PetaPixel.
Live Poll
Do you believe wildlife can successfully coexist with human expansion in your local community?
