After winning the Prince’s Rainforests Project Award category in this year’s Sony World Photography Awards, Spaniard Daniel Beltrá toured the Amazon, Brazil and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to document the devastation being wrought by deforestation, writes Will Gore.

The fruits of Beltrá’s labour are now on display in an interactive exhibition, Focus on Rainforests, at the Nash Conservatory in Kew Gardens. Visitors will be able to sign up to online climate change initiatives, experience the smells of the rainforests and watch Beltrá’s video diary, as well as view his extraordinary photographs.

His images include aerial shots of burning forests and huge chunks of bare land which sit alongside close-up pictures of the animals and humans who rely on the rainforests to survive.

Beltrá, who began his career as a photojournalist before his passion for the environment saw him begin work for Greenpeace in 2001, says: “I was in each place for less than a month which wasn’t that long at the time but I’m happy with the result that gives a general overview of the problem.

“Sometimes, it is contra- dictory when you make terrible things look beautiful but I am pleased with the pictures. I think the aerial photography helps convey the scale of the problem.”

The overhead pictures were taken from small aeroplanes, sometimes as fires raged below, with conditions on the ground often equally as difficult for Beltrá and his crew, particularly in the DRC.

“It was my first time in Congo,” he adds. “It is country with a lot of problems and it was challenging on the ground. There was a lot of corruption, and travelling around was extremely complicated.”

Deforestation is occurring in all the areas Beltrá visited, either by logging or the burning of trees, to maximise the value of the land and he says that as 20 per cent of global carbon emissions are caused by deforestation the effect it is having on climate change is catastrophic. Beltrá is hopeful Focus on Rainforests will raise awareness for this issue in the run-up to December’s United Nations Climate Change summit in Copenhagen.

“The exhibition is geared towards the Copenhagen summit with the hope that the impact the destruction of the tropical forest has on global warming is truly considered,” he says. “We hope a monetary fund is created to compensate the countries to ensure forests are more valuable to them standing than lost

Focus on the Rainforests, Nash Conservatory, Kew Gardens, until December 6, visit kew.org