The planet is in danger and we don't see it. That's the message spelled out very clearly by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, who's devoted his life to alerting us to our future – by means of his sublime photographs.

Everyone knows Yann Arthus-Bertrand's photos and his passion for nature and the animal world. At the age of 20 he settled in central France to run a nature reserve; then one day he decided to travel the world studying its ecosystems. He was soon recording his observations in photographs to complement his writing, and it was from a hot air balloon that he first discovered the earth seen from above. From this aerial perspective he saw a different side of the land and its resources. His vocation was born: to bear witness through pictures to the beauty of Earth and mankind's impact on the planet. His first book, published in 1981, was Lions, and he likes to say that lions were his "first photography teachers". Ten years later he founded Altitude, the world's first agency for aerial photographs, and published La Terre vue du Ciel (Earth from Above). The book was a worldwide success, selling over 3 million copies, and the promotional open-air exhibition was seen by 200 million people in about 100 countries. Yann, a committed environmentalist, has also made a TV documentary series entitled Vu du Ciel, in which each episode explores a particular ecological problem. All his work now reflects his commitment to raising public awareness and encouraging responsible behaviour. All films produced by his non-profit company Hope are available free of charge to NGOs, voluntary bodies and schools, for use in environmental education.

Tribute to the Mediterranean
In January this year Yann gave a preview at the Villa Méditerranée in Marseille of his latest documentary, Méditerranée, notre mer à tous. Directed with Michael Pitiot, the film took a year to make, with three film crews and hundreds of hours of helicopter footage of Marseille, Tangiers, Alexandria, Rome, Barcelona, Jerusalem etc. The film ends with a warning: by 2025, there will be 637 million of us living around the Mediterranean.