The 9th edition of Miss Earth beauty pageant will be held at the Boracay Ecovillage Resort and Convention Center, in the Island of Boracay, Philippines on November 22, 2009. The Miss Earth winner serves as the spokesperson for the Miss Earth Foundation, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and other environmental organizations. At the conclusion of the competition, outgoing titleholder Miss Earth 2008 Karla Henry of the Philippines will crown her successor. Photo: AFP

Beauties for a Cause
The delegates of Miss Earth 2009 visited the different islands of the Philippines with the theme "Green Lifestyle" and promoted the use of recyclable materials as part of collective lifestyle. In addition, they engaged on different environmental activities including the planting of trees, and had school tours in the provinces of Ilocos, Laguna, Negros Occidental, Albay, Pampanga, Bulacan, Rizal, Pangasinan, Batangas, Iloilo and Metro Manila. Photo: AFP

National costume round
The National Costume competition of Miss Earth 2009 was held on November 4, 2009 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines Grand Theater in Pasay City. There were 80 delegates who participated in the competition, with Miss Tanzania winning the Best in National Costume award. Minor/sponsor awards were also given at that night which includes the Placenta Award which was given to Miss Puerto Rico and Pasigandahan Award which went to Miss Guam. Photo: AFP

The special awards
Miss Philippines Sandra Seifert bagged the award for the Best in Long Gown in the Miss Earth 2009 in an event held at PAGCOR Grand Theatre. Miss Photogenic was awarded to Miss Czech Republic. Miss Congeniality went to Miss Switzerland . The special awards have no bearing in the selections of the top 18 finalists. Photo: AFP

The semi-finalists
On November 15, 2009, the delegates from 80 countries were judged by a separate panel of judges in “closed-door” preliminaries to determine the 18 semi-finalists to vie for the coveted title of Miss Earth 2009. The delegates appeared with the panel of judges with no make-up and scored based on their presentation in the Evening Gown, Swimsuit, and Interview (environmental knowledge, intelligence, and personality). Photo: AFP