Photos: Reclaimed by Nature
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Abandoned oil tanks are covered by flourishing ivy plants in Huai an, Jiangsu province, China, seen on May 9, 2023.
Artem Priakhin / SOPA Images / LightRocket / Getty
A discarded sneaker, covered in thick layers of green moss, rests on a fallen tree branch in a public park on the outskirts of St. Petersburg, Russia, on April 8, 2026.
CFoto / Sipa USA / Reuters
Young trees sprout up within the unfinished Evergrande Cultural Tourism City project in Zhenjiang City, Jiangsu province, China on September 5, 2024. The project was originally planned as a world-class fairy-tale themed park—a competitor to Shanghai Disneyland—meant to open in 2021.
Christoph Hardt / IMAGO / Panama Pictures / Reuters
Thick ivy covers a streetlight in Frechen, Germany, seen on July 26, 2024.
Saeed Khan / AFP / Getty
An aerial view of the abandoned MS World Discoverer cruise ship, stranded in shallow water in Roderick Bay in the Solomon Islands, seen on on April 20, 2024. The ship struck a rock during a cruise in 2000, and was deliberately grounded to prevent it from sinking.
Lian Zhen / Xinhua / Getty
A view of the thousand-year-old Heicheng ruins in Ejina Banner in China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, shows encroaching dunes, viewed on October 29, 2025.
Jochen Tack / Reuters
An old table-tennis table sits in an abandoned playground, overgrown by plants, in Essen, Germany.
Vadim Makhorov / AP
A polar bear pokes its head out of a window at an abandoned research station on Koluchin Island, off Chukotka, Russia, on September 18, 2025.
Leo Coulongeat / Hans Lucas / Reuters
An aerial view of the bell tower of San Juan Parangaricutiro Church, which was buried by lava during the eruption of the Parícutin volcano in 1943, in the Mexican state of Michoacán.
Peter Schickert / IMAGO / Reuters
Plants grow within the ruins of St Mary’s Church in Wye Valley, Tintern, Wales.
Michael Nguyen / NurPhoto / Getty
A tiled corridor in an abandoned building frames a view of bright yellow autumn leaves in Neukirchen, Germany, on October 10, 2025.
Jonathan Lins / DPA / Getty
Animals walk past abandoned houses in the Bebedouro neighborhood of Maceió, Brazil, which was evacuated due to the risk of collapse at a nearby salt mine, seen on December 11, 2023.
JanelleLugge / iStockphoto / Getty
Trees grow among stones in a collapsed section of Beng Mealea, an ancient temple in Siem Reap, Cambodia.
Detlef Voigt / Zoonar / IMAGO / Reuters
An aerial view of the closed Stadio Sant'Elia stadium, seen with an overgrown field, in Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy, viewed in 2025
Lou Benoist / AFP / Getty
An abandoned house sits near eroded cliffs in Saint-Pierre-en-Port, France, on August 22, 2025.
Jim West / Universal Images Group / Getty
Rabbitbrush takes over an abandoned gas station in the Nevada desert.
Indranil Mukherjee / AFP / Getty
Abandoned buses, discontinued from active service, stand overgrown with creeper vines and other vegetation at a bus depot in Mumbai, India, on July 26, 2025.
Nicolas Tucat / AFP / Getty
A computer monitor and telephone remain on a desk in the offices of an abandoned steel plant in Charleroi, Belgium, seen on February 9, 2026.
Iren_Key / iStockphoto / Getty
One of the structures of the ancient Mayan city of Calakmul sits surrounded by a tropical forest in the Mexican state of Campeche.
Atlantagreg / iStockphoto / Getty
A large patch of Kudzu takes over a parking lot.