Nigerian conservationist Rachel Ikemeh has been named one of the five Laureates of this year’s Rolex Awards. Through a community-led conservation programme, Ikemeh has protected a uniquely biodiverse ecosystem from destruction. Now, with Rolex’s support, she plans to recreate her extraordinary success story in neighbouring communities.

This year is the 50th anniversary of the Rolex Awards for En terprise, originally launched in 1976 to mark half a century since the release of the first waterproof wristwatch produced by Rolex, the Oyster. Part of the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative, the Awards are given to exceptional individuals whose projects improve knowledge of the planet, protect the environment, and help preserve habitats and species. To celebrate 50 years of the programme, it is being revamped under a new name: the Rolex Awards.

Along Nigeria’s southern shoreline is a region rich with ecosystems that contain extraordinary natural resources: the Niger Delta. Part of the Guinean Forests of West Africa, an internationally-recognized biodiversity hotspot, it is home to the world’s third-largest mangrove forest and Africa’s second-largest swamp forest ecosystem. The delta supports thousands of plant and animal species, and provides crucial services such as flood control, groundwater recharge and climate change mitigation.

Despite its immense ecological importance, the Niger Delta is one of the most degraded environments in the world. As the epicentre of Nigeria’s oil industry, it has been subjected to thousands of oil spills, which are devastating for ecosystems. Moreover, the pollution of the waterways has forced the local fishing communities to take up logging, causing further degradation of the Niger Delta’s unique habitats.

However, thanks largely to Ikemeh’s efforts as founder of the South-West/Niger Delta Forest Project (SWNDFP), the region has begun to recover. After years of advocacy and negotiation amid the area’s tense socio-political landscape, in 2021, Ikemeh succeeded in setting up a conservation area covering more than 1,000 hectares, policed and protected by the local Apoi community, with remarkable results.

Her organization is now protecting at least 13 threatened species in the habitat, including the elusive and critically endangered Niger Delta red colobus monkey, which Ikemeh is credited with bringing back from the brink of extinction.

Other species now protected by the community conservation programme include the grey parrot; Home’s hinge-back tortoise; the West African dwarf crocodile; the white-bellied pangolin; the Anambra waxbill; the red-capped mangabey; the Nigerian white-throated monkey and the sitatunga. Fishery resources have been replenished in the mangrove habitat, and biodiversity is flourishing.

The Apoi community has also enjoyed myriad socio-economic benefits, thanks to employment, education, structural developments, and environmental health and alternative livelihood programmes.

The project has been so successful that Ikemeh has recreated it in other areas of the Niger Delta. The SWNDFP now operates four conservation areas across more than 10,000 hectares of forest. At least 2,500 local livelihoods have been improved, and over 18,000 people have engaged in conservation education.

Ikemeh is one of five Laureates of the 2026 Rolex Awards. But she has no intention of resting on her laurels. She has ambitious plans for the future.

Rolex will support her in creating four new community conservation areas and establishing a training hub and mobile education programme to build conservation skills among local communities. The curriculum will include project development, conservation planning, habitat management and sustainable livelihoods.

One of the new protected areas will see Ikemeh working in an entirely new area of conservation for her, on the Delta’s coast. “We are establishing a locally managed marine area. It’s in a place called Foropa – it’s quite a distance from Apoi, and it will be the region’s first-ever marine protected area,” says Ikemeh.

Under her expert stewardship, this unique and vastly biodiverse area will be able to sustain abundant life, and help the communities that live there to thrive. With her shining example, Ikemeh can continue to be a role model for the next generation of conservationists.

“When I started out 21 years ago, girls were not doing what I was doing. In fact, Nigerians weren’t doing what I was doing. But something has changed. One of my team members asked a young boy from the community what he wanted to be when he grew up. He pointed at me. That still brings me to tears.”
– Rachel Ikemeh, Conservationist and 2026 Rolex Awards Laureate

ABOUT THE PERPETUAL PLANET INITIATIVE
Rolex celebrates human achievement, recognizing journeys marked by milestones and emotions that culminate in defining moments.

For nearly a century, Rolex has supported pioneering explorers to help them achieve countless historic feats. Over time, the company has moved from championing exploration for the sake of discovery to protecting the planet. Through the Perpetual Planet Initiative, Rolex stands alongside those building a better future for all life on earth.

The Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative was launched in 2019 and now has a portfolio of more than 30 partners and 165 Laureates of the Rolex Awards, active in three main focus areas: Oceans; Landscapes; and Science, Health and Technology.

For the Oceans, Rolex supports a wide range of projects such as Mission Blue and Coral Gardeners as well as Testimonees, including Sylvia Earle, Cristina Mittermeier and Paul Nicklen.

The Landscapes roster includes: a strengthened partnership with the National Geographic Society; Rewilding Argentina and Rewilding Chile, offspring organizations of Tompkins Conservation; and Steve Boyes and the Great Spine of Africa series of expeditions.

Rolex champions partners in Science, Health and Technology, such as: Rolex Awards Laureates Andrew Bastawrous; Felix Brooks-church; and Miranda Wang.

Rolex also supports organizations and initiatives fostering the next generation of explorers, scientists and conservationists, such as the Royal Geographical Society, The Explorers Club, and the CERN & Society Foundation.