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Rolex supports the Great Spine of Africa project to preserve the continent’s great rivers
Rolex has long championed pioneering explorers who push the boundaries of human endeavour, and in 2019 the watchmaker reinforced its commitment to the cause with the Perpetual Planet initiative, aiming to support those who contribute to a better world.
Among its ever-expanding portfolio—which includes rewilding projects in South America, coral reef conservation, Arctic research and more—is Steve Boyes’ Great Spine of Africa expeditions.
As an ornithologist and conservation biologist, Boyes has dedicated his life to preserving the great wildernesses of Africa and the species that depend on them. Through his research on the Meyer’s parrot, the South African was drawn to the continent’s final intact wetland, the Okavango Delta, which is home to huge concentrations of wildlife, including the world’s largest population of elephants.
Since 2010, Boyes and his team of researchers have embarked on an annual trip across the delta in traditional dugout canoes—often dodging submerged hippos—covering 12,000 kilometres over the years. During these epic journeys, the team conducts biodiversity studies to examine threats to the area, including overfishing, tourism and irrigation for agriculture.
In 2022, Boyes and deputy expedition leader Kerllen Costa led a team of multidisciplinary scientists on the first Great Spine of Africa Expedition, which takes its name from the tectonic plate that runs along the divides between Africa’s greatest river basins: the Okavango, Zambezi, Congo, Nile, Chad and Niger.
The first month-long expedition began at the previously unexplored source of the Zambezi in the highlands of Angola, and continued for 900 kilometres along the Lungwebungu River, concluding at the Zambian border. The team collected baseline data on everything from biodiversity and threats to habitats, hydrology and ecosystem health, and used aerial imagery to capture transects of the river and adjacent forests. Various animals were geotagged along the way, providing precious data on wildlife movement along the river.
“Working to save the rivers will represent long-term security from the impacts of global warming for over 400 million people living in Africa’s major river basins and for the more than two-thirds of Africans who depend on the ecological services provided by these major drainages,” says Boyes. “There is a generation of work still to be done on these rivers, establishing baselines so that we can protect them properly.”