A River Runs Through It

Conservationist and explorer Steve Boyes is reshaping our understanding of Africa's vast water security by mapping and protecting the continent's major river basins—a lifeline for more than 500 million people—with the support of the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative

- By Annabel Tan

Throughout Africa, where wilderness stretches far beyond the horizon and rivers trace the stories of nations, water is everything. Yet, as pressures from climate change and development intensify, Africa’s water security hangs in a delicate balance. South African conservationist and explorer Steve Boyes is determined to change that narrative.

Through his organisation, The Wilderness Project, Boyes is spearheading the Great Spine of Africa expeditions, a monumental effort supported by the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative. This mission, which began in mid-2022 and aims to complete 200 expeditions, seeks to better understand and protect Africa’s critical waterways. The core work involves exploring and safeguarding the continent’s water towers—elevated regions such as the Angolan Highlands that act as essential natural reservoirs by storing and supplying fresh water downstream, often sustaining life even in dry season. Simultaneously, the team works to establish ecological and hydrological river baselines—the reference points that record the undisturbed flow patterns, water quality and biodiversity of a river system, providing a critical benchmark for measuring future change.

HEART OF RESILIENCE

The necessity of this work is evident when considering the Angolan Highlands water tower. Despite its relative obscurity, Boyes’s research reveals it to be a crucial source of resilience, releasing an estimated 423km³ of water annually—equivalent to nearly 10 times the yearly water usage of the entire state of California—and providing water security for millions of people.