Nigeria’s Rachel Ikemeh wins Rolex Award for efforts to save rare red monkey
Nigerian conservationist Rachel Ikemeh has been named the 2026 Rolex Award laureate, for her work with communities in the Niger Delta to protect the region’s ecology and the critically endangered Niger Delta red colobus monkey. The red colobus (Piliocolobus epieni), a monkey known as epieni by the region’s communities, is listed as one of the […]
Nigerian conservationist Rachel Ikemeh has been chosen as the 2026 Rolex Award winner for her efforts to safeguard the critically endangered Niger Delta red colobus monkey and the region's ecology. The red colobus (Piliocolobus epieni), also known as epieni by local communities, is one of the world's 25 most endangered primates according to the IUCN.
Ikemeh's work with communities in the Niger Delta has led to a significant increase in the monkey's population, which had plummeted from thousands to just hundreds by 2013. In 2021, Ikemeh and her team established a 1,010-hectare (2,496-acre) community-protected area for the epieni in Apoi, a town within the monkey's range. By 2024, the monkey's population in the protected forest had doubled, from 180-200 individuals in 2021.
Ikemeh expressed that the award validates the community model for conservation and expressed optimism about the epieni's future due to the positive shift in community perception.
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