VANCOUVER, BC — Artists for Conservation (AFC), the world’s leading artist group supporting the environment, is proud to announce that Australian wildlife artist and conservationist Geraldine SImmons has been awarded the 2026 Simon Combes Conservation Award. The award—the highest distinction granted by AFC—is presented annually to an artist who has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to conservation through artistic excellence and field impact.
Geraldine lives and creates from her home studio at Collaroy on Sydney’s northern beaches, Australia. She creates her wildlife portraits in either pastel and coloured pencil or scratchboard. These mediums enable her to achieve meticulous detail and emotional depth to evoke empathy and awareness about the fragility and beauty of wildlife.
Her artistic journey began amidst the tranquillity of her early surroundings and the loneliness that shaped her childhood. Born in London and later settling in Australia in 1968, Geraldine found herself immersed in the performing arts through her parents but distanced from the companionship of peers. This isolation, though challenging, became the crucible for her creativity. The lack of distraction and solitude fostered a deep connection with the natural world.
Riding her bike to serene locales, Geraldine developed an acute attention to detail—observing the subtle nuances of the environment. These observations laid the groundwork for her signature style, focusing on the delicate details and expressions that animate her animal portraits, transforming them from mere representations to windows into the soul of the wild.
Her encounter with the majestic wildlife of Borneo in 2005 truly defined the trajectory of her career. A profound connection she felt with the orangutans and the stark beauty of the Indonesian wildlife awakened a fervent desire to use her art to advocate for endangered species. The deep, soulful eyes of an orangutan she met were the catalyst for dedicating her art to wildlife conservation.
Closest to her heart is Friends of the National Parks Foundation (FNPF) in Indonesian Borneo, which focuses on the conservation of orangutans and other Indonesian wildlife. Stirred by her life-changing Borneo trip, in 2009, Geraldine founded the Riding for Rangas annual charity bike ride in 2009 (held biennially) to raise funds and awareness for FNPF.
Geraldine explains “In 2005 when I visited Borneo, I saw firsthand the destruction caused by the planting of palm oil plantations that threaten local plant and animal species such as orangutans. Inspired and deeply moved by this trip I put my love of bike riding to good use by founding charity bike ride Riding for Rangas. Our goal is to help Friends of the National Parks Foundation’s work to rebuild native forest habitat in some of the last protected sites containing large populations of Orangutans. Every year, Orangutans lose more of their forest homes, cleared through deliberately lit fires by palm oil corporations. They spend miserable lives as “pets”, are smuggled for the illegal wildlife trade and are slaughtered by local farmers because they are considered pests. Orangutans play an essential role in the ecosystem by maintaining the health of the forest floor. As they eat the forest fruits, the seeds drop to the ground, making new plants grow, maintaining biodiversity”.
In addition to providing more habitat for these populations, FNPF rescues Orangutans from surrounding farms and palm oil plantations and relocates them to the safety of these protected areas. The Riding for Rangas campaign has raised thousands of dollars assisting FNPF fight for the survival of orangutans through restoring habitat and relocating dozens to safety from the palm oil plantations to Tanjung Puting National Park (Borneo) and Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve.
Geraldine intimates, “The pain in my legs, the cramping and the exhaustion I felt climbing hills for over 7 hours and then facing another massively steep hill that looked like Mt. Everest, I was about to quit. When I had no more energy left, I thought, how would I climb to the top of this hill and finish this ride with another 50 km to go? Then, I remembered those soulful brown eyes of a baby orangutan from my visit to the Tanjung Puting National Park. I realized that the pain and suffering I was going through was nothing compared to the pain and suffering these animals endure because of human activity. That memory and with the encouragement of my fellow team riders and support crew kept me going to complete the ride”.
Geraldine also actively supported numerous animal welfare and environmental organizations through the donations of her original art. These include Humane Society International, Save Elephant Foundation, ENDANGERED Art4Apes Fine Art and Photography exhibition, Explorers Against Extinction Sketch for Survival Art Auction, Orangutan Protection Foundation, Sea Shepherd, Silvery Gibbon Art Auction and Borneo Orangutan Society.
Upon learning of her nomination for the award, Geraldine responded “I feel so humbled and overflowing with gratitude. Winning this award will propel me even further into serving through my art and doing more for our irreplaceable wildlife and their habitats”.
Geraldine has been a Signature Member of Artists for Conservation since 2004. She will receive the award at the opening reception of the Artists for Conservation Festival on September 24, 2026, in Vancouver, British Columbia.
With the award, Geraldine joins a who’s-who roster of international recipients chosen for their artistic excellence and lifetime of extraordinary support of conservation. Past honorees include David Shepherd, Robert Bateman, John Banovich, Robert Glen and Sue Stolberger (joint recipients), Dr. Guy Harvey, Pollyanna Pickering, Richard Ellis, John and Suzie Seerey-Lester (joint recipients), Karen Laurence-Rowe, Guy Coheleach, Mark Hobson, Guy Combes, Priscilla Baldwin, Anne London, Kitty Harvill, Michael Dumas, Walt Anderson and Sunita Dhairyam.
AFC’s Simon Combes Conservation Award was established in 2006 is the highest honour AFC presents to an artist member. The annual award has become the world's most prestigious conservation award for visual artists. The award's namesake, Simon Combes was a prominent member of AFC until his tragic passing in 2004, when he was killed in an encounter with a Cape Buffalo near his home. Simon was Project Director of the Kenya chapter of the Rhino Rescue Trust, an organization founded in 1985 to protect endangered species from being poached, and to help the communities surrounding Lake Nakuru National Park affected by wildlife conflicts.
Learn more about Geraldine through her AFC website.
About Artists for Conservation
Artists for Conservation (AFC) is the world's leading group of artists supporting the environment. Founded in 1997, the non-profit organization comprises a membership of 500 of the world's most gifted nature artists from 27 countries, across five continents. Dedicated to nurture, promote and leverage its world-class community of artists in support of our natural world, AFC drives its mission through three key programs: Art & Environmental Education; Field Work & Research; and Artist Development. The Artists for Conservation Festival is AFC's annual flagship initiative to showcase, support and further these programs. For more information, visit http://www.artistsforconservation.org.