Indonesia Paper

Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelago, with more than 17,000 islands stretching between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Located at the heart of the Coral Triangle, widely regarded as the global centre of marine biodiversity, Indonesia is home to the greatest diversity of coral reef species on Earth. The Coral Triangle alone contains nearly 76% of the world’s known reef-building coral species and more than 2,000 species of reef fish, making it one of the planet’s most extraordinary reservoirs of marine biodiversity. This exceptional richness is driven by the meeting of currents from the Indian and Pacific Oceans, creating highly productive and remarkably complex marine ecosystems.

The photographs in this category were taken at some of the world’s finest diving destinations, including Komodo, in the Lesser Sunda Islands, and Raja Ampat, off the coast of West Papua. Beneath the surface, every dive offers an astonishing succession of encounters, from tiny pygmy seahorses perfectly camouflaged among sea fans to graceful manta rays, alongside countless reef fish, nudibranchs, corals and marine invertebrates displaying extraordinary colours and forms. This outstanding biodiversity has made Indonesia one of the world’s premier destinations for underwater photography.