John Chan / Juvenile California least tern (Sternula antillarum browni) begging for food from a decoy, used to attract breeding pairs to deserted nest sites, Huntington Beach, California, USA, June.

Juergen Freund / Blue-lined fangblenny (Plagiotremus rhinorhynchos) hiding in a plastic container, they usually hide in deserted worm tubes or other small holes, North Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Peter Cairns / Mangerstadh beach, Isle of Lewis, Scotland, April 2013.

Andy Rouse / Barn owl (Tyto alba) perched in frame of old window, UK, April

Tim Laman / Aerial view of Bora Bora Island, Society Islands, French Polynesia. July 2006

Pete Oxford / Horse rider on deserted beach Cape Town, South Africa

Gavin Hellier / Anse Source d'Argent Beach, La Digue Island, Seychelles, Indian Ocean

Gavin Hellier / Anse source d'Argent Beach, La Digue Island, Seychelles, Indian Ocean

Gavin Hellier / Anse Source d'Argent Beach with granite boulders, La Digue Island Seychelles, Indian Ocean

Gavin Hellier / Anse Source d'Argent Beach with granite boulders, La Digue Island, Seychelles, Indian Ocean

Mike Read / Rain clouds over Ruthven Barracks. Near Insh Marshes RSPB reserve, Badenoch and Strathspey, Highlands, Scotland, UK. October 2018.

Chris Mattison / Blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) nest in unoccupied bee hive. May.

Duncan Murrell / Long deserted beach at Napsan on the west coast of Palawan, Puerto Princesa, the Philippines. Medium repro only

SCOTLAND: The Big Picture / Nature reclaiming abandoned building. Bohemian Switzerland National Park, Czech Republic.

Ashley Cooper / Resident carrying belongings through flood waters, Toll Bar near Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England, UK, 28th July 2007.

Ashley Cooper / Resident inside flooded house, Toll Bar near Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England, UK, 28th July 2007.

Ashley Cooper / Interior view of house during flooding, Toll Bar near Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England, UK, 28th July 2007.

Ashley Cooper / Interior view of house during flooding, Toll Bar near Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England, UK, July 2007.

Ashley Cooper / Interior view of house during flooding, Toll Bar near Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England, UK, July 2007.

Ashley Cooper / Man with carrying small dog through floodwaters, Bentley, South Yorkshire, England, UK, 28th July 2007.

Ashley Cooper / Car in flood waters in the village of Toll Bar near Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England, UK, 28th July 2007.

Graham Eaton / Inside a brick kiln at the derelict Porth Wen brickworks, near Bull Bay, Anglesey, Wales, UK October 2012

Graham Eaton / Brick kilns at the derelict Porth Wen brickworks, near Bull Bay, Anglesey, Wales, UK October 2012

David Tipling / Norwegian Lutheran Church, also known as the Whalers Church and as Grytviken Church, in Grytviken, South Georgia

Juan Carlos Munoz / Deserted car half sunk in sand, Solitaire, Namib Naukluft National Park, Namibia 2015

Kirkendall-Spring / Lone tree along Antelope Flats Road, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, USA, June.

David Noton / Autumnal Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) trees lining the Dempster Highway, Yukon Territories, Canada, September 2013.

David Noton / The road to Skagway with autumnal trees and mountain, South Klondike Highway, Yukon Territories, Canada, September 2013.

Franco Banfi / Island with white sandy beach, Maldives, Indian Ocean

Franco Banfi / Island with white sandy beach, Maldives, Indian Ocean

Franco Banfi / Small deserted island with white sandy beach, Maldives, Indian Ocean, November 2011

Franco Banfi / Small deserted island with white sandy beach, Maldives, Indian Ocean, November 2011

Gavin Hellier / Beach resort area south of Wonsan, East Sea of Korea, Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea (DPRK), North Korea, 2012

Wild Wonders of Europe / Widstrand / Land abandonment - empty houses in Sfinthu Gheorghe, Danube delta rewilding area, Romania June 2012

Wild Wonders of Europe / Widstrand / Abandoned car in Letea, Danube delta rewilding area, Romania May 2012

Wild Wonders of Europe / Widstrand / Land abandonment in Letea - abandoned houses in Danube delta rewilding area, Romania May 2012

Wild Wonders of Europe / Widstrand / Land abandonment in Letea - abandoned houses in Danube delta rewilding area, Romania May 2012

Wild Wonders of Europe / Widstra / House ruins, abandoned since the Balkan war 1991-1995, Velebit Nature Park, Rewilding Europe area, Velebit mountains, Croatia June 2012

Wild Wonders of Europe / Widstra / House ruins, abandoned since the Balkan war 1991-1995, Velebit Nature Park, Rewilding Europe area, Velebit mountains, Croatia June 2012

Wild Wonders of Europe / Widstrand / Abandoned houses - land abandonment, Velebit Nature Park, Rewilding Europe area, Velebit mountains, Croatia June 2012

Alex Hyde / Abandoned farm buildings in mountain landscape, Aosta Valley, Monte Rosa Massif, Pennine Alps, Italy. July 2012

Wild Wonders of Europe / Widstrand / Abandoned farmland due to globalisation, socio-cultural reasons, the Bosnian war and minefields, Velebit Nature Park, Dalmatian coast, Croatia, August 2011

Wild Wonders of Europe / Widstra / Abandoned farm building, Faia Brava Reserve, Coa valley, Portugal, May 2011

Wild Wonders of Europe / Widstrand / Abandonned building - Land abandonment in Vegas de Domingo Rey village, Salamanca Region, Castilla y Leon, Spain, May 2011

Wild Wonders of Europe / Widstrand / Land abandonment in Vegas de Domingo Rey village, Salamanca Region, Castilla y Leon, Spain, May 2011

Wild Wonders of Europe / Widstrand / Abandonned buildings - Land abandonment in Vegas de Domingo Rey village, Salamanca Region, Castilla y Leon, Spain, May 2011

Wild Wonders of Europe / Widstrand / Abandonned buildings - Land abandonment in Vegas de Domingo Rey village, Salamanca Region, Castilla y Leon, Spain, May 2011

Wild Wonders of Europe / Widstrand / Land abandonment near Vegas de Domingo Rey village, Salamanca Region, Castilla y Leon, Spain, May 2011

Wild Wonders of Europe / Widstrand / Crumbling building - land abandonment in Vegas de Domingo Rey village, Salamanca Region, Castilla y Leon, Spain, May 2011

Wild Wonders of Europe / Widstrand / House with bricked up windows and doors - Land abandonment, Vegas de Domingo Rey village Salamanca Region, Castilla y Leon, Spain, May 2011

Wild Wonders of Europe / Widstrand / House for sale - Land abandonment in Martiago village, Salamanca Region, Castilla y Leon, Spain, May 2011

Wild Wonders of Europe / Widstrand / Bricked up window in abandonned building - Land abandonment in Martiago village, Salamanca Region, Castilla y Leon, Spain, May 2011

Wild Wonders of Europe / Widstrand / Land abandonment in Martiago village, Salamanca Region, Castilla y Leon, Spain, May 2011

Wild Wonders of Europe / Widstrand / Abandoned building - Land abandonment in Martiago village, Salamanca Region, Castilla y Leon, Spain, May 2011

Wild Wonders of Europe / Widstrand / Boarded up building - Land abandonment in Martiago village, Salamanca Region, Castilla y Leon, Spain, May 2011

Wild Wonders of Europe / Widstrand / Boarded up building - land abandonment in Martiago village, Salamanca Region, Castilla y Leon, Spain, May 2011

Wild Wonders of Europe / Widstrand / For sale sign on building - Land abandonment in Martiago village, Salamanca Region, Castilla y Leon, Spain, May 2011

Wild Wonders of Europe / Widstrand / Boarded up building - Land abandonment in Martiago village, Salamanca Region, Castilla y Leon, Spain, May 2011

Wild Wonders of Europe / Widstrand / Abandoned countryside house, part of land abandonment, in the Faia Brava Reserve, Rewilding Europe area, Portugal, March 2011

Yukihiro Fukuda / Looking out across shallow sea from deserted beach, Christmas Island, July 2008

Yukihiro Fukuda / Looking out across sea from deserted beach, Christmas Island, July 2008

Yukihiro Fukuda / Looking out across sea from deserted beach, Christmas Island, July 2008

Andy Rouse / Barn owl (Tyto alba) sitting in old window of deserted building, UK December

David Noton / The road to Socaire, Atacama Desert, northern Chile, South America

Jack Dykinga / Mayan Ruins at Oxkintok, one of the oldest cities in the Yucatan with hieroglyphic inscriptions showing some of the earliest dates known in the Yucatan. Mexico

Rick Tomlinson / Deserted beach on the Brazillian island of Fernando de Noronha, with yacht moored in the distance, October 2008. For EDITORIAL USE only.

Rick Tomlinson / Deserted beach and rocky outcrops on on the Brazillian island of Fernando de Noronha, Atlantic Ocean, October 2008. For EDITORIAL USE only.

Rick Tomlinson / Deserted beach on the Brazillian island of Fernando de Noronha, Atlantic Ocean, October 2008. For EDITORIAL USE only.

Alan Williams / Yellow flag iris (Iris pseudacorus) bed growing on ruined croft, South Uist, Outer Hebrides, Scotland, UK, May 2011

Peter Lewis / Rock Formation and Rock Pool at Dawn Marloes Sands Pembrokeshire Wales, at low tide

Kathryn Jeffs / Inside abandoned research station on Detaille Island, Antarctica, February 2009, Taken on location for BBC Frozen Planet series

Paul Hobson / Wildflowers flowering on deserted land beside railway line in city centre, Sheffield, Yorkshire, UK, April 2010

Florian Möllers / Three Black and White colobus monkeys / Guerezas (Colobus guereza) sitting in the entrance of a wooden building of the deserted Budongo Sawmill, Budongo Forest Reserve, Masindi, Uganda, Africa, Decemb...

Florian Möllers / Secondary rainforest growing over wrecks of old cars left behind after the Budongo Sawmill was deserted. Budongo Forest Reserve, Masindi, Uganda, Africa. December 2006

Toby Roxburgh / Sailing yacht anchored off a deserted beach, north-east Corfu, Greece, June 2010.

Merryn Thomas / Abandoned buildings on the deserted island of Great Blasket. Blasket Islands, off the Dingle Peninsula, County Kerry, Republic of Ireland, May 2009.

Merryn Thomas / Abandoned buildings on the deserted island of Great Blasket. Blasket Islands, off the Dingle Peninsula, County Kerry, Republic of Ireland, May 2009.

Merryn Thomas / Ruins of Signal tower (to warn of Napoleonic invasion) on the deserted island of Great Blasket. Blasket Islands, off the Dingle Peninsula, County Kerry, Republic of Ireland, May 2009.

Staffan Widstrand / Deserted beach, Gotska Sandn National Park, Sweden, July 2007

Gary K. Smith / Deserted beach with clouds reflected in wet sand, Holkham, Norfolk, UK, October

Gary K. Smith / Deserted beach at low tide showing ripples in sand, Holkham, Norfolk, UK, October

Jouan & Rius / Door with sand covering the bottom of it, Kolmanskop, a deserted diamond mining town, Namib desert, Namibia.

Jouan & Rius / Buildings in Kolmanskop, a deserted diamond mining town, Namib desert, Namibia

Jouan & Rius / Derelict house in Kolmanskop, a deserted diamond mining town, Namib desert, Namibia

Nick Turner / St. Oswalds Church at Widford, site of deserted medieval village cause by the Black Death, Oxfordshire, UK

David Noton / Deserted beach at dawn, Bottom Bay, South East Coast, Barbados

Staffan Widstrand / Looking down onto deserted secluded beach and cove, Zakynthos, Greece

DAVID TIPLING / Deserted farmhouse, Lesbos, Greece

Jane Burton / Domestic Cat {Felis catus} Tabby tortoiseshell looking out of a broken pane in an ivy-grown window of a deserted Victorian house.

Gavin Hellier / Anse Severe Beach and Palm tree, La Digue Island Seychelles, Indian Ocean

Gavin Hellier / Woman Walking Along Grand Anse Beach, La Digue Island Seychelles, Indian Ocean. Model released

David Fleetham / Deserted beach on the south shore of Molokai, with the island of Lanai in the background, Hawaii.

David Fleetham / Early morning view with shadows of palm trees on deserted beach in Kihei on the island of Maui, Hawaii. The West Maui Mountains can be seen in the background.

Onne van der Wal / A man fly fishing at the end of a deserted beach in El Cardonal, Isla La Partida, Mexico. 2006.

Onne van der Wal / Derelict rusting buildings at the abandoned whaling station at Grytviken, South Georgia.

Onne van der Wal / Grytviken, a deserted whaling station, active from 1918-1963, as seen from a hill top above King Edward point, South Georgia. The museum can be seen in the foreground.