B.I.G Expedition

The first woman to ski solo across Antarctica, Felicity Aston has dedicated her life to polar exploration and preservation. With support from the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative, her latest Arctic expedition has been a challenge that has borne unexpected fruit. <br> In 2000, fresh out of university, a young Felicity Aston travelled to Antarctica to work with the British Antarctic Survey as a meteorologist. She stayed there for the next two-and-a-half years recording data about the region’s climate and found herself falling in love with the “wonderful perfection” of the landscape. A few months into the post, she was sent on her first solo expedition off-base and found herself awestruck by the immensity of the untouched scene. She resolved to understand and protect Earth’s polar regions.

Following the tracks

In 1997, Louis Liebenberg created a digital tool allowing indigenous trackers to record their observations of wildlife for conservation purposes. Supported by Rolex, his CyberTracker found worldwide popularity and unexpected uses. It is now receiving an upgrade.

A legacy to protect

Almost 30 years ago, Rolex Awards for Enterprise Laureate José Márcio Ayres established the world’s largest continuous stretch of protected rainforest. Though he passed away in 2003, his legacy lives on in the heart of the Amazon.

Through the lens

After two years of the Rolex and National Geographic Perpetual Planet Amazon Expedition, the seven teams are drawing their studies to a close, hoping that their findings, combined with powerful photojournalism, can reframe how we look at the Amazon.

The Cassai River

As part of his Great Spine of Africa Expeditions to protect the continent’s water security, Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative partner and conservationist Steve Boyes has traced a major source of the Congo River back to the Angolan Highlands.

A profound collaboration

With its expedition in Guadeloupe’s mesophotic zone, Under The Pole successfully completed the first chapter of its DEEPLIFE series, supported by the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative, through which the team of expert divers studied marine animal forests in Arctic, temperate and tropical waters.

Democratizing deep-sea research

The Azores Deep-Sea Research group is scientifically documenting the deep ocean floor like never before, thanks to its drifting video platform, the Azor drift-cam.

Harmony between land and ocean

Mission Blue Hope Spot Champion Rili Djohani has dedicated decades to protecting the vibrant marine world around her Balinese home. With support from the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative, she is helping local people to restore the coral reefs they depend on.

The superhero of the oceans

Conservationists are working with local communities to repair degraded marine habitats in Cambodia. With support from the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative, they are restoring seagrass meadows to bring the ocean’s largest vegetarian back to Cambodia’s waters.

Tracking wild camels with satellites

Remote sensing specialist Liu Shaochuang is trying to save critically endangered wild camels using space technology.

Uncharted waters

Australia’s Ningaloo Coast teems with marine life, but its survival depends on the biodiverse Exmouth Gulf nearby.

Fernando Trujillo: For the love of river dolphins

Colombian marine biologist Fernando Trujillo is the 2024 Rolex National Geographic Explorer of the Year for his work protecting the Amazon’s pink dolphins and the river system that is their home.

Community-led reforestation in the Andes

As the descendent of Quechuan farmers, Peruvian biologist Constantino Aucca Chutas felt a responsibility to act when he saw how the forests of his ancestral Andean home were disappearing because of human activity.

Protecting Africa’s forests

Inza Koné, Côte d’Ivoire’s first primatologist, has spent almost 20 years working in Tanoé-Ehy, one of West Africa’s last primary rainforests.

Regenerating land, lives and tradition in Indonesia

Social entrepreneur Denica Riadini-Flesch has succeeded in creating one of the world’s first regenerative farm-to-closet clothing chains – SukkhaCitta, meaning happiness. Determined to empower rural artisans in Indonesia, she has created hundreds of jobs with fair pay for those who craft high-end clothing using traditional and sustainable techniques.

Within the soil

Three National Geographic Explorers are assessing the health of areas in the Amazon River basin that have been transformed by human activity. With support from the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative, they are finding innovative solutions to regenerate these degraded landscapes.

In the Cloud Forest

As part of the Rolex and National Geographic Perpetual Planet Amazon Expedition, Quechua biologist and National Geographic Explorer Ruthmery Pillco Huarcaya is searching for Andean bears that regenerate cloud forests which feed water into the Amazon River basin.

Through the Tributaries

Fernando Trujillo and María Jimena Valderrama are captivated by the charismatic dolphins swimming throughout the Amazon River basin. With support from the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative and the National Geographic Society, their latest international study, an assessment of the dolphin’s health and its habitat, has yielded encouraging results.

Telling our Planet’s Stories

Canadian photographer and filmmaker Paul Nicklen has dedicated his life to protecting the polar regions and marine life around the world. Now, with the support of Rolex’s Perpetual Planet Initiative, he will continue to use his stunning photography to raise awareness of the threats faced by life within those ecosystems while inspiring action to protect them.

Atop the Andes Mountains

With support from the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative and National Geographic Society, Explorers Baker Perry and Tom Matthews scaled one of the highest peaks in the Andes to collect a missing piece of critical data on the impact of climate change on the Amazon.

Inspiring Action to Save the Ocean

Cristina Mittermeier is a pioneer of conservation photography. Now, with the support of Rolex’s Perpetual Planet Initiative, she is continuing to take photographs that spark conversations around the ocean and inspire action to protect it.

At the River Mouth

With support from the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative and National Geographic Society, Angelo Bernardino and Margaret Owuor have been uncovering the mysteries of Brazil’s mangroves at the mouth of the Amazon River, one of the least-understood ecosystems on the planet.

In the flooded forest

The resilience of the Amazon wetlands is dependent on the rhythms of its seasonal flooding.

Along the Juruá river

For years, João Campos-Silva and Andressa Scabin have worked with local communities to safeguard the Juruá River’s wildlife.

The mysteries of the Colombian Amazon

With the support of the Perpetual Planet Initiative, an expedition led by Rolex Awards for Enterprise Laureate Francesco Sauro to unexplored caves deep in the Colombian Amazon has yielded remarkable discoveries and helped forge profound cross-cultural bonds.

Towering forests of black coral

Through its Perpetual Planet Initiative, Rolex supports Under The Pole’s DEEPLIFE expeditions, studying marine animal forests from the poles to the tropics.

An island of hope

Sandra Bessudo has dedicated her life to the wild waters of Malpelo Island. Today, with the support of the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative and Mission Blue, Bessudo is working tirelessly to help improve and expand the marine protection around Malpelo to preserve its breathtaking biodiversity.

From the Andes to the Atlantic

Renowned National Geographic Explorer and photographer Thomas Peschak has spent a lifetime documenting our vast oceans and the beauty of the marine environment.

Living legacy of iconic Mountaineers

Seventy years ago, Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay summited the world’s highest peak.

On the shoulders of Everest

In 2012, Dawa Yangzum Sherpa scaled the highest summit on Earth at 21 years of age. Today, with the support of the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative, she runs an annual high-altitude climbing course to provide Nepali women the skills to conquer life’s mountains.

Restoring the gardens of the oceans

Led by local ocean advocate Titouan Bernicot, the team at Coral Gardeners is supported by the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative to inspire a global community of reef defenders and safeguard coral ecosystems around the world.

Revealing hidden treasures

Not far from the populated coastline of northern Italy, the seas teem with cetaceans such as sperm whales and fin whales. With the support of Rolex’s Perpetual Planet Initiative, members of marine research group Menkab are monitoring populations and working to raise awareness of the creatures’ habitat.

Working towards a wilder world

Following successful careers, entrepreneurs Kristine and the late Douglas Tompkins began restoring lost ecosystems, helping them flourish far into the future. Through its Perpetual Planet Initiative, Rolex supports their progressive legacy of rewilding the Southern Cone of South America.

Caprera Canyon’s extraordinary marine life

Through its Perpetual Planet Initiative, Rolex supports One Ocean Foundation which surveys whales and other animals that thrive in the waters of the Mediterranean’s Caprera Canyon in order to better protect them.

Arctic Seas yield their secrets

With the support of Rolex’s Perpetual Planet Initiative, underwater exploration programme Under The Pole has explored the icy waters of the Arctic Ocean to study and raise awareness of rich but little-known ecosystems called marine animal forests.

Canada expedition finds record ice core

For almost a century, Rolex has championed pioneering explorers who are advancing the boundaries of what is possible. Through its Perpetual Planet Initiative, Rolex supports those with a new mission: to understand how we can preserve our natural world.

The mighty Zambezi River and its secrets

Through its Perpetual Planet Initiative, Rolex supports the Great Spine of Africa expeditions that traverse thousands of kilometres of rivers never scientifically documented before. The research will help protect the communities and wildlife that depend on Africa’s great rivers.

Looking under the surface

Francesco Sauro received a Rolex Award for Enterprise in 2014 for his daring expeditions to unexplored caves beneath South America’s tepuis (table-top mountains). Through its Perpetual Planet Initiative, Rolex continues to support his exploration of caverns across the globe.

Think like an ocean

Through its Perpetual Planet Initiative, Rolex is supporting ocean conservation non-profit Mission Blue in its goal to create a global network of Hope Spots, areas that deserve protection as they are home to vital marine ecosystems.

A quest to save India’s rainforests

Romulus Whitaker’s childhood fascination with snakes has led him to devote his life to protecting the environment, in particular rainforests.

Use indigenous peoples’ knowledge to map resources and prevent conflict around climate in Chad

The reality of climate change is known to few better than the people of Chad. The country’s largest lake, which bears the nation’s name and supports 30 million people, has almost vanished in barely two generations.

Explore and study the world’s northern-most caves for new insights into climate change in the Arctic

British climate researcher Gina Moseley will cross one of the world’s last frontiers in exploration when she abseils into the planet’s most northerly unexplored Arctic caves seeking clues to the planet’s climatic past.

Promote local initiatives for biodiversity conservation in Nepal’s Trans-Himalaya

Local people from one of the world’s wildest and most isolated places, the mountainous Himalaya region of Humla in Nepal, are being enlisted as frontline conservators to rescue dwindling wild animal populations – from snow leopards to wild yaks.

Explore and protect the Indian Ocean’s deep coral reefs

A hundred metres or more beneath the ocean surface in the Maldives lies a twilight zone whose wondrous corals and strange life remain unexplored.

Saving the sacred condor

Two centuries ago, the Andean condor soared across the skies of the Andes, but today its population has been massively reduced mainly by human interventions. For over three decades, Argentine biologist Luis Jácome has been working to save one of the world’s largest flying birds from extinction.

A floating rainforest

Perpetual Planet initiative partner Mission Blue is throwing the spotlight on protection of the fabled Sargasso Sea with the arrival of the Sargasso Sea Commission as its formal Champion.

The Biologist Championing Bats

Mexican biologist Rodrigo Medellín has devoted his life to demonstrating how bats, one of the most universally feared and hated mammals, are, in fact, a boon to humanity and agriculture.

A Health report on the Amazon - Perpetual Planet

Rolex is supporting its Perpetual Planet initiative partner, the National Geographic Society, as it embarks on a critical, two-year study of the Amazon River Basin.

Reviving India’s blighted lakes

In the face of rampant urbanization and the severe consequences of climate change, Indian environmentalist Arun Krishnamurthy has mobilized the public, including scores of young volunteers, to help clean, restore and rehabilitate his country’s lakes.

How a bird saved a forest

Anita Studer, a Swiss ornithologist who went to Brazil to study its rich array of bird life, has, through sheer determination and dedication, inspired Brazilians to save their forests and changed thousands of lives for the better in what is now her second home.

A giant aquifer under siege

Pollution from cities and tourism is contaminating the aquifer that is Yucat&aacute;n&rsquo;s sole source of fresh water. Six of the world&rsquo;s best cave divers spent two weeks on a Perpetual Planet-supported expedition mapping cave systems and taking water samples from sinkholes that were explored for the first time in the modern era.

Cathedral in the sea

Emerald rainforests, turquoise waters lapping on to secluded beaches, blissful snorkelling and scuba diving. It is easy to sell the allure of Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula to tourists in search of an adventure holiday: National Geographic once described the area as “the most biologically intense place on Earth”.

Rolex Awards - Women changing the world

Strong, resilient women are leading the way to a better future with support from the Rolex Awards for Enterprise.

Venturer in the underworld

The hidden realm of caves has opened up a new world to scientists and explorers thanks to speleologists such as Francesco Sauro whose many expeditions have provided an archive of time for future generations.

Africa’s ‘Father of Turtles’

Intrigued by turtles and tortoises as a young man, Tomas Diagne has devoted his life to studying and conserving these endangered species in his native Senegal and across Africa.

The call of the cloud forest

Sri Lankan conservationist Rohan Pethiyagoda has devoted more than two decades to a campaign to engage his fellow citizens in the regeneration of his island nation’s unique highland ecosystem, once defined by rich tropical forests shrouded by mist.

Rwanda’s uplifting regal bird

Using education and persuasion, Olivier Nsengimana has liberated the much sought-after grey crowned crane from the gardens of Rwanda’s wealthy citizens and is now using a strategic wildlife management plan to ensure these magnificent birds flourish in their original habitats.

Paula Kahumbu: Defending rights for elephants

National Geographic Explorer Dr. Paula Kahumbu has devoted her career to protecting elephants from environmental changes and poachers.

A whale cafe in the Azores

Through its Perpetual Planet initiative, Rolex is supporting ocean conservation non-profit Mission Blue in its goal to create a global network of Hope Spots, areas that deserve protection as they are home to vital marine ecosystems.

Watching over the Earth’s Blue Heart

Rolex’s Perpetual Planet initiative supports those using science to understand the world’s environmental challenges and who are finding ways to restore balance to our ecosystems, particularly the oceans, which are under siege from a host of pressures.

Saving the snow leopard

In Pakistan’s mountains, Shafqat Hussain is helping farmers maintain their livelihoods while learning to coexist with the big cats who prey on their herds.

B.I.G Expedition - Video

Following the tracks - Video

In 1998, Louis Liebenberg won a Rolex Award for his CyberTracker, a digital tool that enabled indigenous trackers to monetize their skills by recording their observations of wildlife on a handheld device to aid conservation.

A legacy to protect - Video

Bioacoustics scientist Michel André met the late Brazilian conservationist José Márcio Ayres more than 20 years ago through the Rolex Awards.

Through the lens - Video

For two years, the seven teams on the Rolex and National Geographic Perpetual Planet Amazon Expedition have been conducting studies across the Amazon River Basin to better understand the complex water systems that support the world’s largest rainforest.

Great Spine of Africa Expeditions: Cassai River – Episode 1

Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative partner and National Geographic Explorer Steve Boyes has undertaken a journey like no other, as part of his Great Spine of Africa Expeditions.

Great Spine of Africa Expeditions: Cassai River – Episode 2

On an extraordinary journey from the Angolan Highlands to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as part of his Great Spine of Africa Expeditions, Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative partner and National Geographic Explorer Steve Boyes and his team faced hippos, crocodiles and fast rapids as they documented the ecosystems along unexplored waterways.

Poles, Mountains and Forests Moment - Video

Since the 1930s, we have supported the world’s most intrepid explorers, including equipping the first expedition that successfully scaled Mount Everest some 70 years ago.

A profound collaboration - Video

With its expedition in Guadeloupe’s mesophotic zone, Under The Pole successfully completed the first chapter of its DEEPLIFE series, through which it studied marine animal forests in Arctic, temperate and tropical waters.

Democratizing deep-sea research - Video

The Azores Deep-Sea Research (ADSR) group is on a mission to make deep-sea exploration more widely accessible.

Mission Blue: Nusa Penida Hope Spot - Episode 1

Mission Blue Hope Spot Champions Rili Djohani and Wira Sanjaya are working closely with communities in Bali to protect some of the world’s most biodiverse coral reefs.

Mission Blue: Nusa Penida Hope Spot - Episode 2

The Nusa Penida Marine Protected Area has helped conserve more than 20,000 hectares of coral reefs, mangroves and seagrass meadows off the south coast of Bali, Indonesia.

Mission Blue: Kep Archipelago Hope Spot - Episode 1

<p>Founded in 2008, Marine Conservation Cambodia has been installing artificial reefs to restore the depleted seabed around the Kep Archipelago since 2016.</p>

Mission Blue: Kep Archipelago Hope Spot - Episode 2

Since 2016, with the help of local communities, Marine Conservation Cambodia has installed more than 300 artificial reefs in Mission Blue’s Kep Archipelago Hope Spot.

Manifesto - Perpetual Planet

From its earliest days, Rolex has pursued perpetual excellence and, as part of this, a commitment to a Perpetual Planet.

2023 Rolex Awards Laureate: Liu Shaochuang - Episode 1

Liu Shaochuang, a 2023 Rolex Awards Laureate, is using a modern solution to help an ancient creature. For thousands of years, wild camels have roamed the vast plains of the Gobi Desert in Mongolia and China but they are now critically endangered.

2023 Rolex Awards Laureate: Liu Shaochuang - Episode 2

Through the use of tracking collars and remote sensing technology, 2023 Rolex Awards Laureate Liu Shaochuang has been monitoring the movements of wild camels across the Gobi Desert.

2023 Rolex Awards Laureate: Liu Shaochuang - Episode 3

Winning a 2023 Rolex Award helps Liu Shaochuang to scale up his research by tracking and monitoring more wild camels.

2023 Rolex Awards Laureate: Constantino Aucca Chutas - Episode 3

As part of his massive reforestation drive, 2023 Rolex Awards Laureate Constantino Aucca Chutas has mobilized thousands of people from villages throughout the Andes.

Uncharted waters - Video

Beneath the turquoise waters of Australia’s World Heritage-listed Ningaloo Coast is one of the planet’s largest fringing coral reefs.

2024 Rolex National Geographic Explorer of the Year - Fernando Trujillo - Video

Colombian marine biologist Fernando Trujillo is renowned for his work protecting the Amazon’s pink dolphins and the river system that is their home.

Oceans Moment - Video

2023 Rolex Awards Laureate: Constantino Aucca Chutas - Episode 1

A descendant of Quechuan farmers, biologist Constantino Aucca Chutas felt compelled to act 30 years ago when he saw the damage being done to the forests of Peru as a result of uncontrolled logging, wildfires and land trafficking.

2023 Rolex Awards Laureate: Constantino Aucca Chutas - Episode 2

High Andean Polylepis forests are major contributors to water security from the Andes to the Amazon. Growing as high as 5,000 metres above sea level, they not only help mitigate soil erosion and provide a habitat for wildlife, but also act as a natural “water tower” on a giant scale.

2023 Rolex Awards Laureate: Inza Koné - Episode 3

A 2023 Rolex Awards Laureate, Inza Koné is on a mission to help people and nature successfully coexist and protect one of Côte d’Ivoire’s last remaining ancient rainforests, Tanoé-Ehy.

2023 Rolex Awards Laureate: Inza Koné - Episode 2

In Côte d’Ivoire, 2023 Rolex Awards Laureate Inza Koné draws on the expertise of reformed local poachers to change the fortunes of some of West Africa’s most imperilled primates.

2023 Rolex Awards Laureate: Inza Koné - Episode 1

As a 2023 Rolex Awards Laureate, Inza Koné is protecting one of Côte d’Ivoire’s last remaining primary rainforests, Tanoé-Ehy. The forest teems with life, including species found nowhere else on Earth.

Conservation begins in the classroom - Video

Conservationist Suryo Prawiroatmodjo has long believed that in order to protect our natural environment, people’s attitudes towards it must be radically changed. He has brought about profound changes to attitudes in and beyond his native Indonesia.

Ice towers in the desert - Video

Sonam Wangchuk lives and works in the Ladakh region of India, high in the Himalayas. This harsh mountain area is experiencing acute water shortages due to climate change. Sonam, who is an engineer and educator, found a simple but ingenious way to store water using artificial glaciers that will irrigate trees and crops.

Race to rescue the Siberian tiger - Video

For the past 17 years, Sergei Bereznuk, a staunch Russian conservationist and ecologist, has been working valiantly to save the Amur tiger. Based on his experience since 1995 with a tiger anti-poaching brigade in the Russian Far East province Primorsky Krai, Bereznuk is convinced that saving the Amur tiger depends on both the efficiency of anti-poaching measures and the education of the local people.

Holding back the Sahara - Video

Lower rainfall and severe droughts are threatening to turn three-quarters of Tunisia’s agricultural lands into desert. Sarah Toumi is holding back the Sahara by planting Acacia trees, which revitalize the land, preventing further erosion and salinization. She is also working to reduce rural poverty by introducing sustainable farming practices, encouraging farmers to plant crops more suited to the changing climate than olives and almonds.

Upcycling reshapes lives - Video

In 2007, Reese Fernandez cofounded Rags2Riches, a social enterprise company that revolutionized the women’s business practices by arranging for them to sell their products direct to retailers.

Saving the world’s threatened penguins - Video

Saving the world’s threatened penguins

Great mother of the hornbills - Video

After rediscovering a species of hornbill thought to be extinct in Thailand’s ravaged rainforests, microbiologist Pilai Poonswad set about turning former poachers and illegal loggers into protectors of these glorious birds and their precarious habitat.

Saving Rwanda’s bird of fortune - Video

Rwanda’s iconic grey crowned-crane is disappearing because of poaching and loss of habitat. Olivier Nsengimana is liberating cranes from gardens, while inspiring a new generation of conservationists to value his country’s extraordinary wildlife.Discover more about Rolex Awards Young Laureate Olivier Nsengimana

Repairing the past - Video

The last griffon vulture disappeared from the Cévennes in the south of France 60 years ago. Its cousin, the European black vulture, had deserted France a century earlier. Keen to undo the past, 1984 Rolex Award Laureate Michel Terrasse has been working for 35 years to return these magnificent birds of prey to their natural habitat.

Gentle giant of the ocean - Video

Kerstin Forsberg is a biologist from Peru, who is working to save one of the most majestic creatures in the sea – the giant manta ray. These unique fish, which are caught for their gills and meat, are at high risk of extinction. She is working to give local fisherman new livelihoods and to raise awareness of all vulnerable marine species.

Barometers for Africa’s health - Video

Lindy Rodwell has devoted the past 11 years to preserving the cranes of Africa, whose magical presence is woven into her childhood memories and the cultural fabric of her native South Africa.

Reduce wildlife-human conflict in India - Video

Reduce wildlife-human conflict in India

Preserving Paraguay’s forgotten corner - Video

Scottish biologist Karina Atkinson is fostering research and responsible tourism to save a Paraguayan reserve.

Protect a giant fish for the Amazon - Video

The largest scaled freshwater fish in the world – the giant arapaima – is bound for extinction. But in a close partnership with local associations and fishing leaders, fisheries ecologist João Campos-Silva has a plan to save not only the arapaima but with it, the livelihoods, food supply and culture of the indigenous communities who depend on the Amazon’s rivers for survival.

An Amazonian legacy - Video

Brazilian environmentalist José Márcio Ayres, who died in March 2003, devoted his life to the challenge of combining protection of the Amazon forest with improving the living conditions of its native people.

The life-saving mangroves of Manzanar - Video

Driven by a long-standing desire for justice, American biologist Gordon Sato is spending his retirement helping some of the world’s poorest people, in Eritrea, to help themselves. His innovative Manzanar project harnesses two of the Eritrean coast’s most abundant resources — intense sunlight and seawater — to grow mangrove plants that can be used not only to feed animals, but also to provide a habitat for fish and shellfish.

Reef rescue with the toughest corals - Video

Reef rescue with the toughest corals

Wild horses and nomads - Video

Claudia Feh, who has spent more than 30 years observing free-living horses, has established herself as world expert on their behaviour. For the past decade Claudia, originally from Switzerland, has been raising the world’s only natural herd of Przewalski horses, in France.

Guardian of South America’s Gran Chaco - Video

rika Cuéllar is training local people in Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina as parabiologists with the aim of protecting the extraordinary biodiversity of one of South America’s last truly wild environments, the Gran Chaco.

Agents of change - Video

American Christine Keung is using her college education as a force for good by tackling rural pollution in northwest China, where her father was sent during the Cultural Revolution. Her ambition is to help authorities find long-term solutions to hazardous waste, and women – who bear the disproportionate cost of environmental degradation as men migrate to cities for work – are the key to her project.

Stars of the sea - Video

Impelled by a love of the sea and its largest fish, the elusive whale shark, marine conservationist Brad Norman has created a photo-identification system to assist its conservation.

Saving a forest to protect a bird - Video

On 1 June 2002, 3,000 people paraded through the Brazilian village of Quebrangulo and then set about planting tree saplings. For Anita Studer, from Switzerland, the event was the culmination of 13 years of work, for one of the trees planted on 1 June was the millionth sapling in her plan to reforest the region.

Clean vision for India - Video

Arun Krishnamurthy is determined to restore India’s neglected urban lakes, rallying communities to help him remove rubbish and recreate wildlife habitats.

Nature and nurture - Video

South African conservationist Andrew Muir is harnessing the healing powers of nature to help young people orphaned by HIV/AIDS become independent citizens. Andrew’s Umzi Wethu programme provides vulnerable but motivated youths with vocational training and jobs in the burgeoning ecotourism industry, while immersing them in their country’s rich natural heritage.

Race to save the seahorse - Video

Canadian Amanda Vincent is the world’s principal authority on one of the ocean’s most enchanting inhabitants — the seahorse. From her initial fascination with this exotic animal and its highly unusual breeding cycle, Amanda has become a key figure in global action to save the wider marine environment.

2023 Rolex Awards Laureate: Denica Riadini-Flesch - Episode 1

2023 Rolex Awards Laureate Denica Riadini-Flesch is reimagining the clothing supply chain through her work empowering rural craftswomen in Indonesia. By way of her farm-to-closet clothing brand SukkhaCitta, the social entrepreneur is reviving indigenous practices and restoring soils, while creating social and economic change in rural communities. Her work embodies the spirit of the Awards, which are part of the Perpetual Planet Initiative. The programme supports individuals with innovative projects to improve life on Earth and preserve cultural and natural heritage for future generations.

2023 Rolex Awards Laureate: Denica Riadini-Flesch - Episode 3

2023 Rolex Awards Laureate Denica Riadini-Flesch lifts up rural communities in Indonesia by building craft schools in villages. She created SukkhaCitta, an innovative farm-to-closet social enterprise providing education in indigenous farming and textile-manufacturing techniques, as well as employment and fair pay to women across Indonesia. Artisans are able to work for the company from their villages and have seen an average 60 per cent rise in income, with grants and microcredits awarded to other entrepreneurial women.

2023 Rolex Awards Laureate: Denica Riadini-Flesch - Episode 2

2023 Rolex Awards Laureate Denica Riadini-Flesch is demonstrating what can happen when women and nature are placed at the heart of entrepreneurship and innovation. Her clothing brand SukkhaCitta is helping rural women to reclaim and relearn traditional, sustainable farming and textile-manufacturing techniques. Already, the project has changed the lives of more than 1,400 people, from farmers to master weavers and seamstresses. Barren soils are being regenerated while toxic run-off from dyes is being prevented and the connection to the Earth rethreaded.

Perpetual Planet: Living Laboratory - Video

Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf used the world as a testing ground for his watches, supporting explorers who ventured into the unknown. Rolex continues his legacy but with a new mission

Within the soil - Video

Three National Geographic Explorers are assessing the health of areas in the Amazon River basin that have been transformed by human activity. With support from the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative, they are finding innovative solutions to regenerate these degraded landscapes.

In the Cloud Forest - Video

As part of the Rolex and National Geographic Perpetual Planet Amazon Expedition, Quechua biologist and National Geographic Explorer Ruthmery Pillco Huarcaya is searching for Andean bears that regenerate cloud forests which feed water into the Amazon River basin.

Through the tributaries - Video

Fernando Trujillo and María Jimena Valderrama are captivated by the charismatic dolphins swimming throughout the Amazon River basin. With support from the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative and the National Geographic Society, their latest international study, an assessment of the dolphin’s health and its habitat, has yielded encouraging results.

Telling our Planet’s Stories

Canadian photographer and filmmaker Paul Nicklen has dedicated his life to protecting the polar regions and marine life around the world. Now, with the support of Rolex’s Perpetual Planet Initiative, he will continue to use his stunning photography to raise awareness of the threats faced by life within those ecosystems while inspiring action to protect them.

Atop the Andes Mountains - Video

With support from Rolex and the National Geographic Society, climate scientists and Explorers Baker Perry and Tom Matthews endured snowstorms and sub-zero temperatures to install a state-of-the-art weather station on the summit of one of Peru’s highest mountains.

Inspiring Action to Save the Ocean - Video

Cristina Mittermeier is a pioneer of conservation photography. Now, with the support of Rolex’s Perpetual Planet Initiative, she is continuing to take photographs that spark conversations around the ocean and inspire action to protect it.

At the River Mouth - Video

National Geographic Explorers Angelo Bernardino and Margaret Owuor have braved storms, mosquitoes and tidal bores to unlock the secrets of one of the world’s least-studied ecosystems: the mangrove forests at the Amazon River mouth.

In the flooded forest - Video

What does the future look like for the forests of the Amazon? Julia Tavares, a plant ecologist joins digital ecologist and fellow National Geographic Explorer Thiago Silva on an epic expedition to the heart of the world&rsquo;s largest rainforest.

Along the Juruá River - Video

Rolex supports its Perpetual Planet Initiative partner, the National Geographic Society, in a series of trailblazing expeditions and scientific studies of the Amazon River basin.

The mysteries of the Colombian Amazon - Video

When Rolex Awards for Enterprise Laureate Francesco Sauro and a team of researchers and Indigenous people entered the forgotten caves of Colombia’s Monochoa region, they unearthed a remarkable trove of scientific treasures.

Under The Pole: DEEPLIFE - Canaries Expedition

Just off the coast of Lanzarote, one of the Canary Islands, thick “forests” of black coral thrive in the deep waters of the ocean’s twilight zone. Between 30 and 200 metres below the surface, these marine animal forests are extremely difficult to study.

Mission Blue: Malpelo Island Hope Spot - Episode 1

The waters around Malpelo Island, situated hundreds of kilometres from the coast of Colombia, are home to breathtaking biodiversity.

Mission Blue: Malpelo Island Hope Spot - Episode 2

Naturalist and professional diver Sandra Bessudo has worked for decades to conserve marine life around Malpelo Island, off the coast of Colombia.

From the Andes to the Atlantic - Video

Renowned National Geographic Explorer and photographer Thomas Peschak has spent a lifetime documenting our vast oceans and the beauty of the marine environment.

Mount Everest Cultural Centres

The first ascent of Mount Everest occurred 70 years ago, when Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit of the world’s highest peak.

Dawa Yangzum Sherpa: Learning the ropes - Episode 2

Dawa Yangzum Sherpa faced an uphill battle to ascend from her rural Nepali village and become the elite professional mountaineer she is today. Having climbed some of the world’s most formidable peaks, she realized she needed to help the next generation of Nepali girls to do the same. Students of her all-female, high-altitude rock and ice-climbing course – supported by the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative – learn that, through a combination of technique, dedication and persistence, they can conquer any challenge that comes their way.

Dawa Yangzum Sherpa: Learning the ropes - Episode 1

In 2012, Dawa Yangzum Sherpa scaled Mount Everest at 21 years of age. Since then, she has conquered K2, known as “the Savage Mountain”, and become an elite mountaineer. Now she’s changing the face of the sport. With the support of the Rolex Perpetual Planet initiative, she runs an all-female course, teaching high-altitude climbing and proving that women have the strength and ambition to conquer the planet’s highest peaks.

Rolex and National Geographic - Perpetual Planet

Rolex and National Geographic, partners in discovering and protecting our world

Coral Gardeners: Restoring the reef - Episode 3

The Coral Gardeners team keeps an eye on the future. As well as planting more and more corals every year, it is developing ReefOS, an artificial intelligence platform that includes automated sensors and cameras. This makes it possible to monitor coral nurseries and reefs, and track the restoration process. The organization’s target is to become “the biggest and most advanced coral restoration programme on the planet”.

Coral Gardeners: Restoring the reef - Episode 2

Since 2017, the Coral Gardeners collective has restored and monitored more than 30,000 corals. Founder Titouan Bernicot has no formal training in marine biology but the reef is his life. The organization has recruited experts and enthusiastic people willing to help. As a result, the team refines its methods and plants more corals every year. All the while, it is telling the “story of the reef” and has already reached more than 200 million people worldwide.

Coral Gardeners: Restoring the reef - Episode 1

At 16 years of age, while surfing the crystal waters of his home island in French Polynesia, Titouan Bernicot had an eye-opening experience that led him to dedicate his life to protecting the coral reefs he loves. He founded Coral Gardeners, kick-starting coral restoration on the island alongside his childhood friends. Today these “ocean kids” are inspiring a global community of reef defenders.

Revealing hidden treasures - Video

A short distance from the built-up coast of northern Italy, the waters teem with whales and dolphins. Every day that the weather allows, the team at Menkab goes out to sea to conduct vital research into these creatures and raise awareness of this overlooked habitat

Mission Blue

Rolex has joined forces with Sylvia Earle’s Mission Blue initiative to watch over and safeguard the Earth’s oceans. Since 2009, Mission Blue has been creating a network of Hope Spots around the planet, flourishing icons of marine life in the immensity of the Earth’s Blue Heart.

Tompkins Conservation: Rewilding Chile and Rewilding Argentina - Episode 3

At the “little school of the macaw” in Corrientes, Argentina, birds rescued from captivity are being taught how to survive in the wild again. When its “students” are ready, the team at Rewilding Argentina will release them back into their natural habitats to recover their roles in seed dispersal. Macaws are just one of the key species being reintroduced into the area to encourage the return of other wildlife and rebuild the ecosystem.

Tompkins Conservation: Rewilding Chile and Rewilding Argentina - Episode 2

Since land across the Patagonian Steppe was converted into a national park, Rewilding Chile has been working to reinstate the native flora and fauna to the area. The team started by removing hundreds of kilometres of fencing, which broke up the land into sections and prevented animals from moving freely. Now, several species are beginning to thrive, like the endangered Patagonian huemul deer, which are helping to build a healthy forest ecosystem for the future.

Tompkins Conservation: Rewilding Chile and Rewilding Argentina - Episode 1

Thirty years ago, Kristine Tompkins and Douglas Tompkins left the corporate world to start a trailblazing conservation journey, rebuilding ecosystems in Argentina and Chile. Today, the work initiated by Tompkins Conservation is being continued by offspring organizations Rewilding Chile and Rewilding Argentina. Their mission is to restore and rebuild the natural world.

Caprera Canyon’s extraordinary marine life - Video

The waters of the Canyon of Caprera in the Mediterranean are home to a host of endangered species including whales, dolphins and monk seals. Researchers at One Ocean Foundation are using hydrophones and environmental DNA to understand the ecosystem. That knowledge is essential for the protection of the region.

Under The Pole: DEEPLIFE - Svalbard Expedition - Episode 3

By exploring the Arctic seas, the team at Under The Pole aims to document the region’s hidden ecosystems and preserve them. Only by understanding the marine animal communities that exist in these icy waters – and how they are changing – is it possible to take action. Divers Ghislain Bardout and Emmanuelle Périé-Bardout want to ensure a living world for the next generation. Their science-driven exploration is supported by the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative.

Under The Pole: DEEPLIFE - Svalbard Expedition - Episode 2

When the explorers at Under The Pole dive into the Arctic Ocean, they face formidable challenges. The water is so cold it hurts, and the chill also wears out their equipment. Arctic dives require careful preparation and the right frame of mind but the reward is discovery. The team has found the first-ever marine animal forest in the Arctic off the coast of Svalbard, as part of its ongoing DEEPLIFE programme supported by the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative.

Under The Pole: DEEPLIFE - Svalbard Expedition - Episode 1

The ecosystems of the Arctic seas remain mysterious even as the sea ice retreats due to climate change. To learn more, Under The Pole’s Ghislain Bardout and Emmanuelle Périé-Bardout led an expedition to Svalbard, supported by the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative. The explorers dived into the frigid waters in search of marine animal forests. These ecosystems are just as essential to life on Earth as forests on land, yet little is known about them.

Rolex and National Geographic: Perpetual Planet Mount Logan Expedition - Episode 2

<p data-pm-slice="1 1 ['bulletList',null,'listItem',null]">After climbing to the top of the highest peak in Canada, Mount Logan, during the expedition, National Geographic Explorer Alison Criscitiello and her team spent two weeks drilling down into the ice. Going metre by metre, the team extracted an ice core they think could reach back up to 30,000 years into the Earth&rsquo;s history. Now back in the laboratory, Criscitiello and her colleagues are carefully cutting, imaging and processing the ice to unlock new clues about climates of the past, and future.</p>

Rolex and National Geographic: Perpetual Planet Mount Logan Expedition - Episode 1

Deep within the ice on the summit of Mount Logan, Canada’s highest peak, are clues about the Earth’s climate and atmosphere spanning thousands of years. Scientist and high-altitude mountaineer Alison Criscitiello led the Rolex and National Geographic Perpetual Planet Mount Logan Expedition to retrieve these layers of past climates. What they find will help us understand past changing climates, and what they mean for our future.

Mission Blue: Galápagos Expedition – Episode 1

&ldquo;Think like an ocean&rdquo;. Working to protect the iconic Gal&aacute;pagos Islands Marine Reserve, Sylvia Earle and her Mission Blue team led a groundbreaking expedition to assess the health of the ocean after nearly 25 years of protection. What they found could be used as a blueprint of success for the rest of the planet.

Mission Blue: Galápagos Expedition – Episode 2

Mission Blue has been helping to track animals in the Galápagos Marine Reserve to analyse their well-being around the archipelago. Through this work, legendary oceanographer Sylvia Earle and a team of scientists are making incredible insights into the connectivity of the Galápagos with the rest of the planet – including discovering DNA sequences that could be completely new to science.

Mission Blue: Galápagos Expedition – Episode 3

In the Galápagos Islands, Manuel Yépez used to catch and sell sharks. Today, he is one of two Mission Blue “Champions” in the archipelago; logging, sampling and distributing information about the diverse marine life he comes across. Through combined efforts with local fishermen like him, Sylvia Earle and Mission Blue are fighting to protect the incredible diversity of the Galápagos Islands, passing the torch to the next generation in the process.

The Okavango Wilderness Project Team - Perpetual Planet - Video

From National Geographic Documentary Films, Into the Okavango chronicles the extraordinary expedition across three countries to the Okavango Delta.

The Great Spine of Africa Expeditions: Lungwevungu River - Episode 3

Travelling the equivalent of a round-the-world trip, explorer Steve Boyes and his team are undertaking a series of pioneering expeditions to find new species and establish ecological baselines of Africa’s greatest rivers. Their first journey took them 900 kilometres from the remote Angolan highlands to the border with Zambia following a tributary to the mighty Zambezi River. What they discover will help build ecological resilience and protect waters that millions of people and countless unique ecosystems depend on.

The Great Spine of Africa Expeditions: Lungwevungu River - Episode 2

The Zambezi River, home to one of the natural wonders of the world, Victoria Falls, is a life source for millions of people, across six countries. National Geographic Explorer Steve Boyes and his team have travelled over 900 kilometres from the remote Angolan highlands to the Zambian border to better understand the health of this incredible waterway. This is the first of the Great Spine of Africa expeditions that will establish ecological baselines to reveal how Africa’s great rivers are changing.

The Great Spine of Africa Expeditions: Lungwevungu River - Episode 1

Venturing into the remote Angolan wilderness, conservationist and National Geographic Fellow Steve Boyes led an expedition to increase scientific knowledge of the mighty Zambezi River, on which millions of people depend. The discoveries they have made will help find ways to protect these vital waterways as the climate changes.

Looking under the surface - Video

At the peak of the melt season, Rolex Awards for Enterprise Laureate Francesco Sauro led a team of scientists on a pioneering and perilous expedition into caves beneath Switzerland’s Gorner Glacier. The goal was to discover how melt water contributes to the glacier’s disappearance from the inside. The team used a pioneering collision-tolerant drone to create 3-D models of the caves. They explored deep inside the Gorner’s mysterious caves and what they found will help predict the fate of the glacier.

Rolex Awards - A self-made environmentalist in India - Video

Romulus Whitaker turned a lifelong interest in reptiles, especially the king cobra, into a six decades’ long career of protecting the environment in his adoptive country of India.

India’s unconventional conservationist - Rolex Awards

Passionate about the natural world, Romulus Whitaker has gone from conserving reptiles to saving India’s rainforests through a network of research stations.

Deepsea Under The Pole by Rolex (Extended) - Video

Deepsea Under The Pole by Rolex is a pioneering expedition and innovative human adventure that combines ski trekking and scuba diving in one of the toughest climates on the planet. Throughout the journey, the eight expedition members collected audio recordings, photographs and video material of the hidden side of the polar ice cap, in addition to successfully conducting two scientific experiments related to snow measurements and human body reactions.

Mt Everest sensors give new insights into climate change

In May 2019, as part of its Perpetual Planet partnership with Rolex, National Geographic succeeded in leading an expedition to install the world’s highest weather station on Mt Everest.

The 2019 Rolex National Geographic Explorers of the Year - The Okavango Wilderness Project Team

The Rolex National Geographic Explorer of the Year award recognizes explorers whose commitment to a perpetual planet is shining a critical light on important issues, discoveries, and challenges facing our planet.

Perpetual Planet

Preserving the natural world

Use indigenous peoples’ knowledge to map resources and prevent conflict around climate in Chad - Video

The reality of climate change is known to few better than the people of Chad. The country’s largest lake, which bears the nation’s name and supports 30 million people, has almost vanished in barely two generations. For climate change and indigenous rights advocate Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, the tragedy also offers an opportunity to bring her people together to solve their crisis, using the unlikely medium of mapping.

Explore and study the world’s northern-most caves for new insights into climate change in the Arctic - Video

British climate researcher Gina Moseley will cross one of the world’s last frontiers in exploration when she abseils into the planet’s most northerly unexplored Arctic caves seeking clues to the planet’s climatic past. Her world-first expedition seeks to expose the risk to humanity from polar regions now heating twice as fast as elsewhere – and threatening to drown coastal cities worldwide.

Getting to the core - Rolex Awards

French glaciologist Bernard Francou extracted an ice core from deep inside an Andean glacier to provide an archive of climatic change over thousands of years.

Patagonia’s wild depths

Chilean Patagonia is a windswept maze of fjords, channels and islands. German and Chilean biologist and marine explorer Vreni Häussermann has dedicated her life to exploring and protecting this biodiversity hotspot.

Explore remote volcanoes affecting Earth’s climate

Yves Moussallam is studying the unknown effect of volcanic gases on climate change. Discover how he is mixing tradition and technology to explore remote volcanoes.

Climbing for the environment - Rolex Awards

One of Japan’s most daring alpinists, Dr Jun’ichi Shinozaki researched the effects of global warming and pollution while climbing some of the world’s most famous peaks.

A passion for the Arctic

Explorer Lonnie Dupre has raised awareness of the fragility of the world’s frozen places and drawn attention to the effects of global warming.

The frozen rainforest

Glacial microbiologist Joseph Cook says the top few metres of the Arctic’s ice are like a “frozen rainforest”. His research is a journey of discovery that reveals how ice micro-organisms on the Greenland ice sheet shape our world.

After the Ice Maiden - Rolex Awards

Johan Reinhard’s discovery of the 500 year-old Inca Ice Maiden could have been his life’s high point, but he was not satisfied with this achievement. He was convinced that better preserved mummies were yet to be found, and he was determined to rescue the cultural patrimony of the Andean people.

Ancient art of communication - Rolex Awards

French explorer Luc-Henri Fage discovered prehistoric cave paintings in Kalimantan nearly 30 years ago and campaigned to save these artistic treasures.

The isle is full of wonder - Rolex Awards

Jean-Francois Pernette has spent most of his life exploring caves. In 2000, he led a mission to the remote limestone islands of Última Esperanza, Patagonia, where he made breathtaking discoveries.

A giant task - Rolex Awards

Palaeontologist Elizabeth Nicholls overcame numerous obstacles to extract the fossilized remains of a 220 million year-old, giant marine reptile in a remote region of Canada.

Studying caves to predict earthquakes - Rolex Awards

By studying caves for traces of ancient seismic activity, French geologist Eric Gilli developed a new method to predict earthquakes.

Riding high in the rainforest - Rolex Awards

Biologist turned entrepreneur Donald Perry has made it possible for tourists, students and scientists alike to explore the biological wonderland that thrives at the top of the rainforest, a realm he calls the “Arboreal Continent”.

Inside the labyrinth

Exploring subterranean caves in South America’s table-top mountains where no human has ever set foot, Italian geologist Francesco Sauro is not only finding clues to evolution on Earth – he is helping to prepare for expeditions to other planets.

Race to save the seahorse

Preserving the world’s natural heritage for future generations is part of what drives Amanda Vincent in her quest for the conservation of marine fish – and seahorses in particular.

Epic journeys

One of South America’s greatest explorers, Cristian Donoso has led expeditions to the wilds of Patagonia and other inhospitable places, not purely for adventure but to gather invaluable knowledge about climate and history.

Mosaic of underground beauty - Rolex Awards

A man for whom adventure is part of life, Italian caver Antonio De Vivo has for years been exploring Mexico’s isolated Rio La Venta Canyon, making startling discoveries about pre-Columbian civilization.

In search of the first Americans - Rolex Awards

Arturo González’s expeditions through the flooded labyrinths far beneath the jungle covering Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula are shedding light on the origins of the Americas and challenging traditional theories about its earliest inhabitants.

Unlocking secret behaviours - Rolex Awards

Rory Wilson has developed a revolutionary device that employs mobile technology to track how animals, including humans, use energy.

Ocean noise rings alarm bells - Rolex Awards

The rising tumult in the oceans caused by human activity is causing devastating damage to sea life, according to evidence gathered by bioacoustician scientist Michel Andr&eacute;.

An answer to toxic leather waste - Rolex Awards

For 40 years, from his university laboratory in the Czech Republic, Karel Kolomaznik has been finding ways to recycle huge quantities of waste from leather production.

Eyes in the ocean

Stanford professor Barbara Block is tagging top marine predators, revealing the mysteries of their lives and their prospects for survival.

Regreening the globe - Rolex Awards

The unflagging efforts of Mario Robles del Moral to reforest his native Spain have gone global, with a path of forest worldwide being the ultimate ambition.

Mexico’s bat man - Rolex Awards

Rodrigo Medellín, a Mexican conservationist is battling many kinds of threats to bats, but the greatest threat he is determined to overcome is ignorance.

Wild horses and nomads - Rolex Awards

Przewalski horses had disappeared from the Mongolian steppes by the 1970s but Claudia Feh led one of several initiatives reintroducing them to the habitat they had ranged for centuries – and improved the lives of local nomads in the process.

Reduce wildlife-human conflict in India - Rolex Awards

Conservationist Krithi Karanth is working to reduce wildlife-human conflict in India. Discover how she is increasing trust between conservationists and communities.

Stars of the sea - Rolex Awards

To help protect the charismatic whale shark, the world’s biggest fish, Brad Norman created an identification system based on its celestial markings.

Embracing the lessons of the past - Rolex Awards

Rejecting the modern farming techniques he had studied at university, Zenón Porfidio Gomel Apaza turned to ancient agricultural traditions to transform the Andean communities of his homeland.

A symphony of sustainability - Rolex Awards

For Martha Ruiz Corzo, conservation and economic development for the poor go hand in hand, an ethos she made real in the mountains of central Mexico.

Living with leopards - Rolex Awards

Shafqat Hussain has offered farmers in the remote reaches of northern Pakistan an alternative to killing the snow leopards preying on their herds, proving humans and big cats can coexist.

Nature and nurture - Rolex Awards

Andrew Muir, a South African conservationist is using the natural world to support young people orphaned by AIDS improve their lives, helping them to find jobs and develop life skills.

Holding back the Sahara - Rolex Awards

Sarah Toumi has returned to Tunisia, her father’s homeland, and is determined to restore the land, which is suffering from desertification, and reduce poverty by introducing sustainable farming practices.

Our lady of the camels - Rolex Awards

German veterinary surgeon Ilse Köhler-Rollefson works with camel herders in India’s remote Thar Desert and champions traditional pastoralist communities worldwide.

Saving a forest to protect a bird - Rolex Awards

Swiss biologist Anita Studer’s ambitious project to restore part of Brazil’s Atlantic Forest has resulted in more than 6 million trees being planted – many by local people – thus creating a multiplier effect across the country.

Saving Rwanda’s bird of fortune - Rolex Awards

Rwanda’s turbulent history has meant wildlife conservation has not always been able to be a priority, but the situation has improved over recent years. Olivier Nsengimana has been part of this change with an emblematic bird as his flagship species.

Agents of change - Rolex Awards

Christine Keung, who immigrated to the United States when she was four, is intent on using her education as a force for good – by tackling rural pollution in Northwest China.

Upcycling reshapes lives - Rolex Awards

Artisans living in Manila’s largest and poorest urban communities used to earn a pittance making rugs from scraps of material. Reese Fernandez-Ruiz set them to work using upcycled and overstock fabric to create high-end fashion accessories – and earn a decent living in the process.

Icon of the Andes - Rolex Awards

Argentine biologist Norberto Luis Jácome has brought back from near-extinction the Andean condor, a majestic symbol of South America’s birdlife.

Great mother of the hornbills - Rolex Awards

Hornbills are perhaps the most regal birds found in Asia and Africa’s tropical forests, where they play a vital role by spreading seeds. A Thai microbiologist is popularly known as the “Great Mother of Hornbills” for her ingenious strategies to save them and their habitats.

Preserving Paraguay’s forgotten corner - Rolex Awards

Biologist Karina Atkinson has spent more than six years helping to transform a little-known reserve in Paraguay into a model of scientific conservation and sustainable tourism that benefits the local community.

Two million trees - Rolex Awards

The vision of award-winning botanist Sebastian Chuwa rallied the people of northern Tanzania to create a sustainable future through a massive reforestation project.

Citizen scientist - Rolex Awards

The inventions of self-taught scientist Forrest Mims have allowed amateurs and specialists across the world to measure the ozone layer that protects life on our planet.

Race to rescue the Siberian tiger - Rolex Awards

The Siberian tiger, the world’s biggest cat, once roamed Asia’s forests in the thousands. Sergei Bereznuk is battling poachers and habitat destruction to save this endangered animal from extinction.

Conservation begins in the classroom - Rolex Awards

Suryo Prawiroatmodjo’s tireless efforts to make environmental education the cornerstone of conservation efforts took root at home and quickly spread throughout Indonesia and beyond.

Gentle giant of the ocean

Kerstin Forsberg is protecting threatened giant manta rays by working with local communities to promote awareness and appreciation of these gentle giants and to assist fishermen find alternative income through ecotourism.

Saving the world’s threatened penguins - Rolex Awards

Pablo García Borboroglu is researching the world's penguins to guide their conservation. Discover his plans to engage local communities to save these ocean birds.

Protect a giant fish for the Amazon - Rolex Awards

Brazilian ecologist João Campos-Silva is working to protect the largest scaled freshwater fish in the world. Discover how doing so is lifting up local communities.

Recreating the emerald green forest - Rolex Awards

The long, slow retreat of Brazil’s Atlantic Forest has been reversed thanks to Laury Cullen Jr. who is protecting its unique wildlife and engaging local farmers in conservation.

Clean vision for India - Rolex Awards

Quitting a promising career at Google to follow a dream of rejuvenating the environment around him, Indian conservationist Arun Krishnamurthy has inspired communities to restore their polluted urban lakes.

Thailand’s shy sea cows - Rolex Awards

To prevent dugongs disappearing from Thailand’s coastal waters, biologist Pisit Charnsnoh has engaged local people to protect the shy sea mammal and revive the coastal ecosystem so crucial to their own economic survival.

Reef rescue with the toughest corals

Marine biologist Emma Camp is out to find the world’s toughest corals. Discover how she plans to rescue reefs in the face of climate change and human activity.

Ice towers in the desert - Rolex Awards

Sonam Wangchuk is helping farmers in the arid Himalayan highlands of Ladakh to overcome water shortages by tapping meltwaters to build artificial glaciers.

Marching for Russia’s parks - Rolex Awards

Mass marches are saving the national parks of Russia, and changing perceptions of nature conservation, thanks to the determined efforts of Irina Chebakova.

Africa’s turtle saviour - Rolex Awards

A visionary naturalist, Tomas Diagne observed that the African spurred tortoise, which can live for more than 150 years, was becoming rare and decided to save it.

Repairing the past - Rolex Awards

In the mid-20th century, vultures faced extinction in Europe’s mountainous regions, their natural habitat for two million years. Michel Terrasse has spent much of his life working to reverse the birds’ destiny.

Shooting wildlife with a camera - Rolex Awards

With India’s wilderness suffering in the face of explosive economic growth, Shekar Dattatri continues to focus his attention on the urgent need to conserve his country’s remaining natural heritage. His subjects range from the tiger to disappearing coastlines.

An Amazonian legacy - Rolex Awards

The late José Márcio Ayres devoted his life to the challenge of combining protection of the Amazon forests with improving the living conditions of its indigenous people.

Barometers for Africa’s health - Rolex Awards

Distressed to see the regal wattled crane disappearing in South Africa, zoologist Lindy Rodwell van Hasselt expanded her conservation network to save the bird’s wetland habitats.

The life-saving mangroves of Manzanar - Rolex Awards

Gordon Sato’s radical method of using seawater for irrigation has helped the poor villages of coastal Eritrea develop a self-sufficient economy.

Farming the natural way - Rolex Awards

Gorur Gopinath developed eco-friendly methods of silkworm rearing in India, working with the environment rather than destroying it, and improving local living standards in the process.

Guardian of South America’s Gran Chaco - Rolex Awards

The Gran Chaco is one of South America’s last truly wild environments but its ecosystem is deteriorating. Conservation biologist Erika Cuéllar has been training local people to protect its extraordinary biodiversity.

Promote local initiatives for biodiversity conservation in Nepal’s Trans-Himalaya - Video

Local people from one of the world’s wildest and most isolated places, the mountainous Himalaya region of Humla in Nepal, are being enlisted as frontline conservators to rescue dwindling wild animal populations – from snow leopards to wild yaks. Driving the scheme is an energetic young ecologist, Rinzin Phunjok Lama, who is convinced that only local commitment and know-how can make the real difference.

Explore and protect the Indian Ocean’s deep coral reefs - Video

A hundred metres or more beneath the ocean surface in the Maldives lies a twilight zone whose wondrous corals and strange life remain unexplored. In a pioneering diving expeditions, a leading expert in the study of fish, Luiz Rocha, plans to survey these deep reefs to find and describe new species and make the case for their protection.

Saving the sacred condor - Video

Fascinated from an early age with his country’s mountains and the condors that fly above them, Argentine biologist Luis Jácome, a 1996 Rolex Award for Enterprise Laureate, understood the ecological role of these majestic and sacred birds – and their vulnerability to extinction.

Exploring submarine forests in Patagonia’s fjords

Discovering new species, never described to science, is just one aspect of the case the intrepid marine biologist Vreni Häussermann puts for the protection of the wild waters of the Patagonian fjords.

Stars of the deep

Little was known about the endangered whale shark, the world’s biggest fish, until Australian marine scientist Brad Norman found a way to identify individual animals using an algorithm developed by NASA.

Listening to the Earth

Since designing an underwater system to prevent ships from colliding with whales, bioacoustics pioneer Michel André has expanded his project to create a network of microphones that monitor the planet's myriad sounds and warn of threats to nature.

The Biologist Championing Bats - Video

With a long-standing love of bats, 2008 Rolex Awards for Enterprise Laureate Rodrigo Medellín has spent the past 40 years protecting these universally feared mammals that he recognizes for their crucial role in pest control, seed dispersal and plant pollination.

Rolex Deepsea Challenge - A decade on with James Cameron - Video

Ten years ago, on 26 March 2012, Rolex Testimonee James Cameron made history as the first person to dive solo to the deepest part of the Earth, the Pacific Ocean’s Mariana Trench, at 10,908 metres (35,787 feet).

Exploring submarine forests in Patagonia’s fjords - Video

Discovering new species, never described to science, is just one aspect of the case the intrepid marine biologist Vreni Häussermann puts for the protection of the wild waters of the Patagonian fjords.

A vanishing forest reborn - Video

Working with dedicated farming families, Laury Cullen Jr. is restoring Brazil’s Atlantic Forest while contributing to the local economy and helping to fight climate change.

Patagonia’s wild depths - Video

Vreni Häusserman is a German biologist who is exploring the unique marine life of the Patagonian fjords in the south of Chile. These extraordinary and delicate underwater environments are suffering from the effects of intensive fish farming and global warming. Vreni is planning ever-deeper dives to study, understand and preserve this unique biodiversity before it is too late.

Reviving India’s blighted lakes - Video

Determined from an early age to revive and protect the waterbodies near his home in Chennai, 2012 Rolex Awards for Enterprise Laureate Arun Krishnamurthy gave up a promising career at Google to devote his life to rejuvenating the lakes in his native India and beyond.

Inside the labyrinth - Video

South America’s table-top mountains conceal caves never visited by humans. Italian scientist and explorer Francesco Sauro is taking on the daunting challenge of exploring these caves in a quest for clues to the evolution of life and the planet.

How a bird saved a forest - Video

Anita Studer, a Swiss ornithologist who went to Brazil to study its rich array of bird life, has, through sheer determination and dedication, inspired Brazilians to save their forests and changed thousands of lives for the better in what is now her second home.

Venturer in the underworld

The hidden realm of caves has opened up a new world to scientists and explorers thanks to speleologists such as Francesco Sauro whose many expeditions have provided an archive of time for future generations.

Stars of the deep - Video

Little was known about the endangered whale shark, the world’s biggest fish, until Australian marine scientist Brad Norman found a way to identify and monitor individual animals drawing on an algorithm developed by NASA scientists.

Darkening hues of Greenland - Video

For British glacial microbiologist Joseph Cook, the blooming of a rainforest of microscopic life in the rapidly warming Arctic holds not only mystery and beauty – but also menace. The colours reflect both the unanticipated changes wrought by human activity on the planet and the hazards of accelerating sea level rise, drowning the world’s coastal cities.

Explore remote volcanoes affecting earth’s climate - Video

Explore remote volcanoes affecting earth’s climate

The isle is full of wonder - Video

In 2000, the world-renowned French speleologist Jean-François Pernette led a multidisciplinary expedition to Chile’s Ultima Esperanza (Last Hope) province — where he made some unexpected and breathtaking discoveries.

A passion for the Arctic - Video

For Arctic explorer and 2004 Rolex Laureate, Lonnie Dupre, global warming is not just a theory – it is a visible and immediate threat to the region that he loves passionately. In May 2005, he set out with co-explorer and friend Eric Larsen on an ambitious expedition to heighten global awareness of this menace.

After the Ice Maiden - Video

Johan Reinhard’s 1995 discovery of the 500-year-old Inca “Ice Maiden” could easily have been the apex of his life. One of the best-preserved bodies from pre-Columbian times thrilled millions worldwide, unleashing a wealth of knowledge. Yet the high-altitude cultural anthropologist and archaeologist was not satisfied with this achievement. He was convinced that better-preserved mummies were yet to be found on remote Andean mountain-tops.

The frozen rainforest - Video

Glacial microbiologist Joseph Cook likens the surface of Greenland’s ice sheet to a “frozen rainforest”. The top few metres of ice are a biological realm whose dimensions, role and impacts are still a scientific mystery. Cook’s Ice Alive mission aims to reveal how this ecosystem helps drive changes in the Earth’s climate, nutrient and carbon cycles, which in turn affect humanity.

Mosaic of underground beauty - Video

Through a series of expeditions to study the speleological, hydrological and archaeological aspects of the Rio La Venta Canyon, Antonio De Vivo and a multidisciplinary team of cavers and researchers have begun to unravel the secrets buried in this isolated region and gather proof that the canyon was an important route of communication and commerce for a highly developed pre-Columbian civilization.

Riding high in the rainforest - Video

Biologist-turned-entrepreneur Donald Perry has made it possible for tourists, students and scientists alike to explore the wonderland that flourishes on the equivalent of the "15th floor" of the tropical rainforest.

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A giant task - Video

The Canadian-American palaeontologist, Elizabeth Nicholls, overcame numerous obstacles to extract the fossilised remains of a 220-million-year-old, giant marine reptile in a remote region of Canada.

Rolex and Mission Blue - Perpetual Planet - Video

Rolex’s Perpetual Planet initiative supports those using science to understand the world’s environmental challenges and who are finding ways to restore balance to our ecosystems, particularly the oceans, which are under siege from a host of pressures.

Under the melting ice

A century after the conquest of the North Pole, team Deepsea Under The Pole took on a new dimension – depth. Deepsea Under The Pole by Rolex was a pioneering expedition undertaken in 2010 to learn more about the submerged side of the Arctic. During a combination of ski trekking and scuba diving in one of the toughest climates on the planet, the eight expedition members successfully conducted scientific experiments.

Journey to the bottom of the sea

On 26 March 2012, film-maker and explorer James Cameron made a record-breaking solo dive 10,908 metres (35,787 feet) below the surface of the Pacific Ocean in the DEEPSEA CHALLENGER submersible vessel to reach the world’s deepest frontier.

Africa’s ‘Father of Turtles’ - Video

Conservationist Tomas Diagne received a 1998 Rolex Award for Enterprise for creating Senegal’s Village des Tortues (Tortoise Village), which is both a haven where turtles, tortoises and terrapins are bred for release into the wild, and a place of learning about the conservation of species on the brink of extinction.

Protecting marine life in the Bahamas - Video

Through a combination of policy, outreach and educational activities, the Bahamas Reef Environment Educational Foundation (BREEF), in partnership with Rolex, works to inspire communities to protect the marine environment of the beautiful low-lying islands. Watch the video on rolex.org. <div id="gtx-trans" style="position: absolute; left: -58px; top: 18.6667px;"> <div class="gtx-trans-icon">&nbsp;</div> </div>

Unlocking an ocean of mystery - Environment

Comparatively little is known about the vast oceans that cloak the Earth, but through a partnership with Our World-Underwater Scholarship Society®, Rolex is encouraging young people to explore the seas. This forms part of our Perpetual Planet engagement with organizations working to protect the environment for future generations.

The “ice stupas” that could water the Himalaya - Environment

Artificial glaciers are being used to grow crops in the harsh desert.

Explorer of the Year - Environment

Renowned photojournalist Brian Skerry has spent more than 10,000 hours underwater over the course of his 30-year career. Growing up in Massachusetts, he was drawn to the ocean and all its mystery, never imagining that one day he would land his dream job and that it would be underwater. With discipline and hard work, he became a contributing photographer for National Geographic in 1998 and through his stories shed light on both the beauty and the fragility of the ocean and its inhabitants.

Meet two generations of leading ocean protectors - Environment

Sylvia Earle and Jessica Cramp share what inspires them and how everyone can help make a cleaner, bluer world.

Master photographer on a mission to help us see the sea - Environment

Without photography, the world beneath the ocean’s surface would remain an unseen mystery for most of us.

Joining forces for the future - Environment

For many years Rolex has supported individuals and organizations whose aims have been to explore the Earth, find innovative solutions for positive change and raise awareness of critical environmental issues.

A partnership to advance exploration - Environment

Together Rolex and National Geographic are committed to inspiring and assisting new generations of explorers.

Explore the ocean in 24 hours - Environment

Explore the ocean in 24 hours

Inspired individuals changing the world - Rolex Awards

For more than 40 years, the Awards have selected individuals of exceptional courage, skill and determination to help in the perpetual quest to explore, understand, guard and cherish the Earth we inhabit and all it holds.

An ocean of hope

Marine biologist Sylvia Earle, a Rolex Testimonee since 1982, has been a pioneer of ocean exploration for more than four decades. Her mission has always been to explore, study and protect the planet's oceans. Now, with her initiative Mission Blue, she is igniting public support to safeguard marine Hope Spots.

A long-standing commitment

The history of Rolex and exploration is one linked to some of the greatest adventures of the past century. Oyster watches have been to the top of the world and the deepest part of the ocean. For generations, pioneering explorers have attested to their reliability in the toughest of conditions.

Trieste: The deepest dive

In 1960, Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh piloted the <em>Trieste</em> on its plunge to the deepest point on Earth &ndash; a 10,916 metres (35,800-foot) depression called the challenger deep.

Darkening hues of Greenland

A strange new life is blossoming within the icy carapace of Greenland, daubing thousands of square kilometres of pristine white landscape in an eerie patina of greens, reds, browns, purple and black.

A vanishing forest reborn

Working with dedicated farming families, Laury Cullen Jr. is restoring Brazil’s Atlantic Forest while contributing to the local economy and helping to fight climate change.

Inspiring adventures - Environment

The Rolex world of exploration

The call of the cloud forest - Video

Restoring the dwindling biodiversity of the unique montane cloud forests of Sri Lanka through the Agrapatana Montane Forest Restoration Initiative earned conservationist Rohan Pethiyagoda a Rolex Award for Enterprise in 2000.

Rwanda’s uplifting regal bird - Video

Encouraged by his 2014 Rolex Award for Enterprise, Olivier Nsengimana has galvanized his fellow Rwandans to revive the fortunes of their much-loved grey crowned crane.

Paula Kahumbu: Defending rights for elephants - Perpetual Planet - Video

National Geographic Explorer Dr. Paula Kahumbu has devoted her career to protecting elephants from environmental changes and poachers.

Saving the snow leopard - Video

In Pakistan’s mountains, Shafqat Hussain is helping farmers maintain their livelihoods while learning to coexist with the big cats who prey on their herds.

Listening to the Earth - Video

Scientist Michel Andr&eacute;&rsquo;s concern for marine life led to the development of an underwater network of microphones. Discover the video on rolex.org.

Heroes of the oceans - Video

As part of our Perpetual Planet initiative, we support those who are finding solutions to the world’s greatest environmental challenges.

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