This year marks the 100th anniversary of the launch of the Rolex Oyster, the brand’s first waterproof watch. But it’s not the only major Rolex anniversary in 2026. Launched in 1976 in honour of the Oyster’s 50th birthday, the Rolex Awards program supports conservation and scientific research as part of the brand’s Perpetual Planet initiative. This year marks the program’s 50th anniversary.
With 165 laureates working in more than 65 countries, the Rolex Awards have enabled the planting of 50 million trees, the protection of nearly 60,000 square kilometres of Amazon rainforest, and the discovery of hundreds of new species, among many other accomplishments. To mark the occasion, Rolex has announced a new cohort of five laureates, each representing a unique story of empowerment, innovation, and hope.
A recurring theme among Rolex laureates is finding ways for humans and animals to live side by side harmoniously, as environmental scientist Binbin Li is doing with China’s most iconic mammal, the giant panda. Despite decades of conservation work, fewer than 2,000 giant pandas remain in the mountainous bamboo forests of central China, and their habitat is threatened by free-ranging livestock and the local communities that depend on them for their livelihood. To create a solution that serves the needs of both people and pandas, Li’s work focuses on collaborating with local communities to develop sustainable practices that reduce pressure on panda habitats while still allowing their livestock to graze.
A similar conflict is taking place in Indonesia’s Leuser Ecosystem, which is the last place where elephants, tigers, orangutans, and rhinoceroses still coexist in the wild. Recognizing the threats from deforestation and development, forest conservationist Farwiza Farhan has spent years mobilizing local communities and leading campaigns to protect this invaluable ecosystem. Similar to Li, her work places women and grassroots communities at the centre of environmental decision-making, equipping them with the tools and knowledge to monitor and defend their own land.
Conservationist Rachel Ikemeh has built a similar model rooted in community empowerment in the Niger Delta, a biodiversity hotspot in the centre of Nigeria’s oil industry. To date, her work has protected more than 5,000 hectares of forest, safeguarded more than a dozen threatened species, and brought tangible improvements to the livelihoods of more than 2,500 people.
Using scientific research to benefit human health and our planet is another recurring theme among Rolex Awards laureates. Chemical biologist Rosa Vásquez Espinoza embodies this as the first scientist to formally establish a link between deforestation in the Amazon and the decline of the region’s stingless bees. Espinoza’s research contributed to a landmark legal case in Peru that resulted not only in formal protections for bees but in the recognition of their legal rights — a remarkable and precedent-setting outcome.
Likewise, medical geneticist Pardis Sabeti is focused on finding ways to lessen the impacts of viral outbreaks in West Africa. By harnessing new technologies and algorithms, Sabeti is working to detect and contain infectious diseases before they can spiral into pandemics. Like so many of her fellow Rolex laureates, a key part of her mission involves training local partners in the countries most vulnerable to outbreaks, and building lasting in-country capacity that does not disappear when international attention moves on.
In addition to giving laureates the opportunity to promote their work on the world stage, the Rolex Award helps them level up their projects in tangible ways. Sabeti’s award will help her develop and field-test a portable diagnostic tool in remote communities in Sierra Leone, potentially saving millions of lives. Ikemeh’s Rolex Award will fund the construction of a new training hub and mobile education program, while Espinoza’s will give her the means to expand an indigenous-led network of protected stingless bee habitats across the Peruvian Amazon.
These are just a few examples of the many ways in which the Rolex Awards have been helping create positive and long-lasting change around the world. It’s hard to think of a better 100th birthday present than that.
HERO IMAGE COURTESY OF ROLEX.
