Portfolios – Leo Thom

Mangrove Photography Awards

leothom_3cuzji — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 11:40:43 +0000

Mangrove Photography Awards

An annual photography competition giving us fascinating insights into the world of mangroves all over the globe.

Every image tells a story…

A short video production for the Mangrove Breakthrough Mangrove Ministerial event at COP30 to highlight the importance of mangroves for climate, biodiversity and livelihoods. The film features winning photos from the Mangrove Photography Awards 2025 and is a reminder and an invitation to protect our mangrove forests.

The “Mangroves: A Vital Lifeline” photography exhibition was showcased at the IUCN World Congress 2025 and aims to spotlight the vital role of mangroves through a stunning photographs from the Mangrove Photography Awards. Featuring the work of 78 incredible photographers, the collection of 100 images from around the tropics celebrates the beauty, diversity, and fragility of our coastal ecosystems.

The Mangrove Photography Awards is officially endorsed by the UN Ocean Decade and Ecosystem Restoration.

IUCN World Congress 2025 photography exhibition was a collaboration between Mangrove Action Project, Environment Agency Abu Dhabi and Abu Dhabi Mangrove Initiative.

Rita of the Sundarbans

leothom_3cuzji — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 11:07:47 +0000

Rita of the Sundarbans

This is Rita's story; a fisher, mother, and now a community leader whose life is deeply connected to the river and the mangroves that protect it.

Mangrove Action Project (MAP) partnered with The Bangladesh Environment and Development Society (BEDS) to support community-based mangrove restoration and sustainable livelihoods in the Sundarbans region. MAP first visited in November 2023, working alongside BEDS and community members on small-scale mangrove restoration and knowledge sharing. When MAP returned in February 2025, they came back to listen; to learn from the community and understand the long-term impact of this work.

Director Producer // Leo Thom (Mangrove Action Project)
Project Manager: Md. Mozaedul Islam
In Association with // The Bangladesh Environment and Development Society (BEDS)
Special Thanks to // Md. Maksudur Rahman, Md. Shamsur Rahman, Abdul Raheem, and Rita and her family
Funders // The Ocean Community Empowerment and Nature (OCEAN) Grants Programme and the Levine Family Foundation

A collaboration between Mangrove Action Project (MAP), Bangladesh Environment and Development Society (BEDS), and the community of Laudove, Dacope.

A Global Mangrove Alliance

leothom_3cuzji — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 10:40:40 +0000

A Global Mangrove Alliance in Indonesia

A Global Mangrove Alliance in Indonesia documented an intensive eight-day training on Community-Based Ecological Mangrove Restoration (CBEMR). The Global Mangrove Alliance’s Indonesia National Chapter (GMA-Indonesia) and Mangrove Action Project (MAP) conducted the training to equip participants with the knowledge and scinetific practical skills needed to enhance mangrove restoration efforts in the country.

Director Producer // Leo Thom (Mangrove Action Project)
In Association with // The Global Mangrove Alliance’s Indonesia National Chapter
Special Thanks to // Apri Susanto Astra
Funders // GMA

The training aimed to improve restoration skills, foster knowledge sharing, and build a supportive network for ongoing and future mangrove projects in Indonesia, ensuring effective and sustainable restoration outcomes.

Managed the full film production cycle, collaborating closely with Mangrove Action Project (MAP) and GMA Indonesia Chapter.

Return of the Mangroves

leothom_3cuzji — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 10:37:56 +0000

Return of the Mangroves

Return of the Mangroves follows the Mangrove Action Project (MAP) team to El Salvador to assess the health of mangroves in the Bay of Jiquilisco. MAP Co-Founder Alfredo Quarto and Jim Enright return to the bay 12 years after they conducted a mangrove restoration training, and with the help of Dr Laura Michie discover the impact of the training on the local people and the mangroves of the bay.

Director Producer // Leo Thom
Archive // Jake Ratner
In Association with // Asociación Mangle
Special Thanks to // José María Argueta
Co-Producer // SALZWASSER e.V

The film has been screened across 18 International film festivals, including receiving winner of Environment Short Film at Tulum WE Festival, winner of Best Documentary at Environmental Film & Screenplay and inner of Community Impact Award at Trees & Seas Film Festival.

Managed the full film production cycle, collaborating closely with Mangrove Action Project (MAP) and local communities to ensure authentic, community-led storytelling.

City Pollinators

leothom_3cuzji — Fri, 22 Mar 2019 11:41:43 +0000

City Pollinators

The film is about an inspiring bee-keeper called Heather, who passes on her devoted knowledge of bees to Rufus a 5 year old boy, so that he might one day grow up to protect nature.

The film was shot on the outskirts of Bristol, UK to see how urban communities are coming together to reconnect with nature. Heather runs a non-profit called Bee the Change which aims to halt the pollination Crisis by connecting communities to nature through bee conservation.

Director Producer // Leo Thom
Co-videography // Felipe Rosa, Pedro Furtado, Leo Thom
Voice // Melissa Thom
Graphics // Leo Thom
Music // Wilf de Salis

Bees are a keystone species. In nature everything is completely dependent on bees. Yet, we have lost 97% of our wildflower meadows since 1995 in the UK.

Pre production, production and post production.
Personal Project

Restoring the Natural Mangrove Forest

leothom_3cuzji — Wed, 20 Mar 2019 14:50:02 +0000

Restoring the Natural Mangrove Forest

Coastal communities are intrinsically connected to the sea. Their lives depend on it. A key to happiness and life in tropical regions is a healthy mangrove forest.

We are now recognizing that a world without the rainforests by the sea, wouldn’t just mean a dismal scenario for coastal communities, but would ultimately affect us all, and our planet. With the ability to store vast amounts of carbon, mangrove forests are key to tackling climate change, but they are under threat worldwide.

The film takes us to the Andaman Coast in Southern Thailand, and explores the importance of mangrove forests. Much like the rest of Thailand, huge areas of mangroves were cut down during the 80s and 90s to make way for shrimp farms. And as mangrove destruction continues globally at nearly 1% annually, attempts are being made to restore these carbon-rich forests.

We are introduced to Mangrove Action Project who have a unique approach to restoring mangrove forests; encouraging natural regeneration (ecological mangrove restoration), and collaborating with coastal communities (community-based restoration). The results show that these ideas and methods would have a great impact on any restoration project, and need to be implemented globally.

Co-videography // Digital Mixes
Voice // Melissa Thom
Music // Sebastian Fox
Drone Footage // Donnapat Tamornsuwan
Photography // Taylor Weidman

Mangrove forests are a current hot topic in marine conservation as details of their incredible importance continue to emerge and reach more people.

Pre production, production and post production.
Client // Mangrove Action Project

The Wondrous Mangrove Forest

leothom_3cuzji — Tue, 19 Mar 2019 15:54:13 +0000

The Wondrous Mangrove Forest

Collaboration with New York Times best-selling author Rachel Ignotofsky and her book, The Wondrous Workings of Planet Earth.

Illustrations from the Ecosystem of the (Florida) Mangrove Swamp page was taken apart and prepared so that it could be animated to journey through the wondrous Florida mangrove forest in this educational piece.

Adapted with permission from THE WONDROUS WORKINGS OF PLANET EARTH

Voice by Melissa Thom

Published by Ten Speed Press.

The big world we live in is smaller than you think...

Animated illustrations into 1 minute educational piece & scriptwriting.
Client // Ten Speed Press

Map Your Meal

leothom_3cuzji — Tue, 20 Mar 2018 07:22:13 +0000

MAP YOUR MEAL

Produced 3 animation for this EU-funded project which aims to engage young people, youth workers, trainers, community educators, and the general public to use their consumer power to take action towards a fair and sustainable food system.

The first was an animation competition win, titled ‘Question Your Shrimp’ which presented the importance of choosing locally sourced food (not just shrimp) and encourages people to find out where their food comes from. Some of the hidden social, environmental and health impacts were exposed, that many would be unaware of.

A further animation would describe the visions and missions of Map Your Meal, while the other presented ideas of what could be done to improve the global food system.

According to numerous reports, nearly all (over 90%) raw shrimp available in the US are farmed in Asian countries, including Thailand, Vietnam, India and Indonesia.

Designed and produced 3 one and a half minute animations, 2 posters and a series of postcards.

Client // Map Your Meal

IUCN World Conservation Congress

leothom_3cuzji — Tue, 20 Mar 2018 07:18:23 +0000

World Conservation Congress : Planet at the crossroads

Designed a series of posters and a brochure for the workshop titled “Moving towards a sustainable mangrove economy” at the IUCN World Conservation Congress, Hawai’I 2016

The purpose of the workshop was to show how "profitable" mangrove protection is, and how much modern societies could gain on an economic, social and ecological level if they replaced currently widespread unsustainable practices with sustainable and high added value practices, within a climate change context that will deeply affect mangroves in the years to come

An adapted infographic of one of the posters was shared nearly 800x and reached over 140,000 people on Facebook

Worked together with talented illustrator Gianna Meola to reach the desired look for the 3 posters; Mangrove Services, Mangrove Products and Mangrove Apiculture.

Client // Conservatoire du littoral

Marvellous Mangroves

leothom_3cuzji — Mon, 19 Mar 2018 17:39:03 +0000

Marvellous Mangroves

Marvellous Mangroves (MM) is an award winning environmental curriculum that has been implemented into various countries and school curriculums in the tropics. Integrated with the national curricula and local sciences, this vital resource inspires both students and teachers to re-connect with the natural world and learn about the importance of mangroves.

Designed an MM online education hub that supports the curriculum and encourages further learning out of school hours. The website follows the chapters of the curriculum while fresh new graphics were designed to attract the younger generation. Once registered, one can post experiences of mangrove visits and chat to other members about mangrove related subjects.

The Marvellous Mangroves curriculum is used in 16 countries by over 250,000 students and 2,500 teachers

Collaboration with the talented illustrator Tom Simpson who produced the 5 scenes to go with each of the chapters.

Client // Mangrove Education Program (MEP)