Image Credit: Global Diversity

Nigerian conservationist Rachel Ikemeh won a prestigious 2026 Rolex Award for Enterprise for her community-led work in the Niger Delta – Species Recovery.

Ikemeh has been named one of just five global Laureates of the 2026 Rolex Awards, one of the world’s most prestigious honours for innovators tackling humanity’s biggest challenges. She is the only Nigerian recognised in this year’s cohort, which marks the 50th anniversary of the awards.

Her work centres on the Niger Delta, a region more commonly associated with oil production than biodiversity. Through the South-West/Niger Delta Forest Project, Ikemeh has pioneered a community-led conservation model that has helped protect more than 5,800 hectares of forest, safeguard at least 13 threatened species and improve the livelihoods of more than 2,500 people.

Rachel Ikemeh is also widely credited with helping bring the critically endangered Niger Delta red colobus monkey back from the brink of extinction. By 2021, only about 200 Niger Delta red colobus monkeys remained. Ikemeh facilitated a 1,000-hectare community-protected area that helped successfully double the monkey’s population. The SWNDFP operates four conservation zones, protecting at least 13 threatened species while improving the livelihoods of more than 2,500 locals

Rather than excluding people from protected areas, her model creates alternative livelihoods, invests in environmental education and gives communities a direct stake in preserving the ecosystems they depend on. It’s an approach that has shown conservation can be as much about people as it is about wildlife.

The Rolex Award will now help Ikemeh expand that model even further. She plans to establish four new community conservation areas, launch a conservation training hub and mobile education programme, and create the Niger Delta’s first locally managed marine protected area in Foropa.