Established in 1976, The Rolex Awards encourage a spirit of enterprise in men and women by providing support for projects that advance human knowledge and well-being.

The biennial Rolex Awards for Enterprise honors exceptional individuals working the fields of science and medicine, technology and innovation, exploration and discovery, the environment and cultural heritage.

The Awards was established 30 years ago to mark the 50th anniversary of the Rolex Oyster chronometer, the world's first waterproof wristwatch.

Ten people out of nearly 1,700 applicants from 117 countries are singled out by an independent jury made up of experts from a variety of countries and disciplines, from scientists to explorers and to specialists.

The award recipients -- three women and two men -- awarded Oct. 26 at a high-profile ceremony at Singapore's Esplanade Concert Hall hail from Australia, France, India, Thailand and the United Kingdom. Each laureate received US$100,000 as well as a personally inscribed gold Rolex chronometer.

The 2006 laureates are: Alexandra Lavrillier, a French ethnologist who established a mobile school to preserve Siberian nomads' cultural heritage; Brad Norman, an Australian environmentalist who implemented a global photo-identification database for whale shark conservation; Pilai Poonswad, a Thai microbiology professor who is saving hornbills threatened by poaching and deforestation in southern Thailand; Chanda Shroff, an Indian woman who has set up a mobile resource center to showcase Kutchi embroidery and to teach a new generation of artisans about this tradition; and Rory Wilson, a British zoologist testing a revolutionary energy expenditure measuring device to help conserve wildlife.

In addition to the prizes awarded to the 2006 laureates, five associate laureates each received $50,000 and a steel-and-gold Rolex Chronometer: Cristian Donoso (Chile), Zenon Gomel Apaza (Peru), Shafqat Hussain (Pakistan), Runa Khan Marre (Bangladesh) and Julien Meyer (France).

Their projects range from revitalizing and preserving whistled and drummed languages via the Internet to implementing an original insurance scheme to save the snow leopard in Pakistan, and to exploring western Patagonia by kayak as indigenous peoples did centuries ago.

The Rolex Awards funds new or ongoing work and assist in the completion of outstanding initiatives, rather than rewarding past achievements. All award recipients must use their monetary prizes to implement or complete their pioneering projects.

The 12th edition marks the first time Rolex held their awards ceremony in Southeast Asia. There have been an unprecedented number of entries from the Asia-Pacific this year, including an increase in Southeast Asian applicants of 66 percent since 2004. This year, five out of 10 laureates and associate laureates are from this region, the highest ever.

In addition, there has been an increasing number of women winners -- four out of 10 are women. A small percentage increase of women applicants was registered -- from 20 percent in 2004 to 22 percent in 2006. The youngest applicant was 16 years old, the oldest 97, with the average age being 47.

No applicant from Indonesia won the award this year; an Indonesian pioneer in environmental education, Suryo Prawiroatmodjo, was named a winner in 1990.

According to the Rolex website, the conservationist believes that in order to protect our natural environment, people's attitude towards it must be radically changed. He believes that environmentalism is "more than just planting trees". For him, conservation means convincing people "to love their land and never take their feet off the soil".

Other prominent Indonesians have been involved in the Rolex Awards, including Dr. Emil Salim and the late Soedjatmiko, who have sat on the selection committee over the years, as well as Dr. Laretna Adishakti, a member of this year's Selection Committee.

Laretna Adishakti is an architect and engineer and founder of the Center for Heritage Conservation, Yogyakarta.

Rolex will shortly announce the official call for entries to the 2008 Rolex Awards, open to enterprising individuals in a broad range of areas. The regional deadlines for entries for the 13th Rolex Awards are May 31, 2007 for Asia, the Pacific and North, Central and South America; Sept. 30, 2007 for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Anyone of any age, and from any country or background is eligible to apply to the awards. Applicants must submit their own ideas and proposals, while their projects must be original, feasible and positively impact the community.

As said by Patrick Heineger, chief executive officer of Rolex SA, "these laureates are worlds apart in nationality, age and background. However, these ten men and women have one thing in common -- a pioneering spirit that equips them to achieve their goals and improve life on our planet, no matter what challenges they counter.

"Each laureate, I believe, has made a difference to the society as well as positively effect the community. Their projects take time to fruition, but it is worth it. The laureates dedicate their lives to their work -- and I congratulate them all on having done an excellent job."