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Jane Goodall renews her faith in nature and humanity during the "Gombe 50" anniversary, An interview with Dr. Jane Goodall By Mark Szotek, Special to Mongabay April 12, 2010 Celebrating 50 years of pioneering research and sharing an inspiring vision for our future, world-renowned primatologist and conservationist Dr. Jane Goodall renews her faith in nature and humanity during the "Gombe 50" anniversary. Time, however, has not stood still for Gombe. The wild chimps of the area have suffered as the local human population has swelled. Gombe National Park is now a forest fragment, a 35-square-kilometer island of habitat isolated in a sea of subsistence farming. Because the problems facing Gombe—unsustainable land practices, overpopulation, and a cycle of poverty—are typical of many other areas, lessons learned by Dr. Goodall and her team provide valuable insights for solutions at Gombe and beyond. Mongabay first began a working dialogue with Dr. Goodall and the staff of the Jane Goodall Institute at the 2009 Wildlife Conservation Network Annual Expo in San Francisco. Dr. Goodall was the keynote speaker at this event, which showcased conservationists and environmental projects across the globe. While the primary intent of this article is to document and share a recent interview with Dr. Goodall, web links to many of the global conservation projects she supports are also included. For information regarding the 2010 WCN Expo, please visit: http://wildlifeconservationnetwork.org/events/expo2010.html.
AN INTERVIEW WITH JANE GOODALL Mongabay: Dr. Goodall, please tell our readers about 'Gombe 50' and what it has been like to work in the fields of wildlife research and conservation for five decades. Dr. Jane Goodall: First of all, I think it is utterly extraordinary that it’s been half a century since I first stepped onto the shores of Gombe; that is an awfully long time. Having begun in 1960, our ongoing research of the chimpanzee community at Gombe is one of the longest documented studies of a wild animal population on record. We are still learning new things about the chimpanzees of Gombe today, as chimps can live for 50 to 60 years. And there is still so much left to learn. Mongabay: How has the field of environmentalism changed over the past 50 years?
For me, the big change in regard to my take on conservation began in the late 1980s when I realized that the problems of deforestation had come right to the borders of Gombe. I came to realize that all across Africa the chimpanzees and their forests were in real trouble. The need to reverse this catastrophic trend is what caused me to make the hard decision to leave the life that I loved out in the forest, working with the chimps in the field of primate research. Now I travel an average of 300 days a year with the mission to give people hope: 'We can pull through our shared environmental challenges if we work together.' The really good news is that over the past 50 years people have begun to see that the world is interconnected and that preserving the environment is a responsibility shared by all. Mongabay: How do you feel about conservation in 2010? What is your outlook for global biodiversity?
Mongabay: In your new book, Hope for Animals and Their World, you discuss multiple examples of species that have been saved 'at the 12th hour.' Are there species or areas that you feel are especially vulnerable, ones that may be 'falling through the cracks?' Dr. Goodall: Well, the planet is facing what is being called the ‘Sixth Great Extinction’ (comparable to mass extinction events like the disappearance of the dinosaurs). In places like Africa, Madagascar and the Amazon, forests are disappearing at a shocking rate. For example, by the late 1980s around Gombe, there were no trees, and the local population of chimpanzees had grown isolated. The chimp communities north and south of the park used to spend a lot of time outside the park connecting with other forest territories and chimp groups, and now they can’t without the trees. When chimps do venture outside the park, they come into contact with people, which has led to numerous problems. We are now losing many of the amazing animal species that share our planet, and due to unsustainable economic practices, millions of people across the world are caught in a cycle of overpopulation, poverty and disease. This trend is reversible. Dedicated people across the globe have successfully stepped up to save wildlife and wild places against seemingly 'impossible odds.' It's why I wrote my book Hope for Animals and Their World to let people know that there is hope for the world's animals and there's hope for us as well. These conservationists are my heroes. Mongabay: Many 'hotspots' of global biodiversity are within the developing world. What's the best way to help developing countries save their wild areas (forests)? Dr. Goodall: Developing countries need to adopt environmentally sustainable practices and there needs to be acceptance of these practices by local people at the local level. I will tell you about the project we developed with the local communities around Gombe called TACARE (Take Care). In ‘traditional’ economic assistance programs, people are given cash subsidies, but there is little done to solve the roots of the problems. I think the reason our reforestation and education programs have worked so well is that we don’t follow this practice. We’ve invested money into projects only after sitting down with the local leaders and village elders. Because the Tanzanian nationals who make up our team do the talking, it is understood that they represent local people not 'outsiders.' And the villagers embrace our projects because they choose the projects themselves. We have placed a real emphasis on micro-credit lending (loans of less than $200) to further the commitment of local people, and all of our projects are developed to be environmentally sustainable—that’s key.
As a result, the villagers around Gombe now have a much greater understanding of the local environment and their impact on it, and have lessened practices like clear cutting and other processes that harm the forests. We’ve already seen trees coming back around many of the villages surrounding Gombe and hopefully the chimps will no longer be trapped within the tiny park. Mongabay: What responsibilities do you feel developed countries and global corporations have in this process of helping the developing world? Dr. Goodall: People in ‘developed’ countries need to rethink the concept of development along an environmentally sustainable model. We in the developed world have lived too long far beyond our environmental means. We need to change and we need to work with the developing nations to implement globally sustainable practices. A greatly outdated mode of thinking in the developed world is 'living large,’ which often has to be supported through a global ‘resource grab’ on the part of the developed nations. Big Business has too often come into conflict with conservation efforts, and in a reckless drive for profits, we all lose out. With rapid economic development, and large populations of people in nations like China seeking ‘their share’ of the natural resources in the rest of the developing world—just as Europe had, just as America is doing—and with all the powerful nations wanting to exercise their right to their share of Africa's, Asia's, South America's resources, wild areas and forest face unparalleled threats, and the local people find themselves relegated to poverty as competition for global resources heats up to reckless levels. Ultimately, there are no real winners in this competition, as we all lose out if unsustainable economic practices lead to global environmental chaos. The hollow pursuit of materialism for its own sake is crushing to the human spirit. What will future generations think of a people who had trouble thinking beyond the next shareholders meeting? There is an enormous need for a concerted effort between the conservation groups, industry, business, NGOs, philanthropic interests and governments to foster and develop sustainable practices. There is room in this world for all of these groups, but we need to act together because, at this point in time, this is the only home that we've got.
Mongabay: What advice would you offer aspiring conservationists in 2010? Dr. Goodall: I would say ‘not to give up and to get involved.’ We need to step up to the challenge now. A real focus of my life these past years has been the development of Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots, the Institute’s global environmental and humanitarian program for young people from preschool to college. We now have Roots & Shoots groups in more than in 120 countries and nearly 150,000 members. 'Roots make a firm foundation; shoots seem tiny but to reach to the sun can break through brick walls (the problems we face).' Working with individual young people is the program’s commitment to all of us being able to make a difference, and Roots & Shoots has been so successful because the young people involved choose the projects and work together to develop solutions. They share problems, they share hopes, they share working through mistakes and together implement change. And Roots & Shoots is being shared by a generation of young people across the planet.
Mongabay: Dr. Goodall, you have a famous quote: 'Every individual matters. Every individual has a role to play. Every individual makes a difference.' Please relate this line of thinking to ideas about how each of us can help preserve biodiversity through our actions. Dr. Goodall: People feel that they are helpless to solve problems facing the global environment; that the problems are too large to be dealt with on an individual basis. But every single day we all make an impact on the world through the choices we make. And we all have the responsibility to carefully consider our choices.
And if people are still feeling helpless, I would ask that they have faith in the resilience of nature and the power and capacity of the human brain. We have an amazing brain; it’s taken us to the moon, discovered the wonders of modern medicine and built a global information super highway. We have the ‘stuff,’ the problem-solving skills, the communication abilities, and a drive to progress that will allow us to work through today's environmental challenges. After 50 years, my job is now to give people hope. Hope for Animals and Their World Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) Video from the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) about its work in Africa and around the world. Related articles Jane Goodall Institute hosts the 'Academy Awards' of conservation 
(12/16/2009) From the menu that featured organic, local and sustainable vegetarian fare to a celebrity reception on the green carpet, the 2009 Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) Global Leadership Awards Celebration offered a progressive spin on the traditional big Hollywood awards gala. Hosted by Jill St. John and Robert Wagner, with a special musical performance by Ben Harper, celebrity attendees included Rachelle Carson and Ed Begley, Jr., Jim Belushi, Craig Ferguson, Jordana Brewster, Frances Fisher, Betty White, and The Honorable Antonio R. Villaraigosa, mayor of Los Angeles (also the winner of the 2009 Jane Goodall Global Leadership Award for Excellence in Public Policy). This article is an interview with Mary Norman, senior vice president for development at the Jane Goodall Institute in Arlington, Va. Ms. Norman and her team are the force behind the Jane Goodall Institute Global Leadership Awards Celebration.
The Asian Animal Crisis 
(03/18/2010) The United Nation declared 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity (IYB). One of the goals of the IYB is to celebrate the achievements of the Convention of Biological Diversity signed by 192 countries since 1992. But what have we accomplished since 1992? Did we put an end to biodiversity loss? The truth is that there is not much to celebrate at all. Asia is a perfect example where the animal crisis and the loss of biodiversity have worsened over decades. The first question that should come to mind is: how many species have vanished in Asia because of human activities? Records of recently extinct species in Asia show 71 species that have disappeared in the wild. Examples include the Yunnan lake newt (Cynops wolterstorffi) from China, the Bonin thrush (Zoothera terrestris) from Japan, or the redtailed black shark (Epalzeorhynchos bicolor) from Thailand.
Extinction outpaces evolution (03/09/2010) Extinctions are currently outpacing the capacity for new species to evolve, according to Simon Stuart, chair of the Species Survival Commission for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Extinct animals are quickly forgotten: the baiji and shifting baselines 
(02/23/2010) In 2006 a survey in China to locate the endangered Yangtze River dolphin, known as the baiji, found no evidence of its survival. Despondent, researchers declared that the baiji was likely extinct. Four years later and the large charismatic marine mammal is not only 'likely extinct', but in danger of being forgotten, according to a surprising new study 'Rapidly Shifting Baselines in Yangtze Fishing Communities and Local Memory of Extinct Species' in Conservation Biology. Lead author of the study, Dr. Samuel Turvey, was a member of the original expedition in 2006. He returned to the Yangtze in 2008 to interview locals about their knowledge of the baiji and other vanishing megafauna in the river, including the Chinese paddlefish, one of the world's largest freshwater fish. In these interviews Turvey and his team found clear evidence of 'shifting baselines': where humans lose track of even large changes to their environment, such as the loss of a top predator like the baiji.
Humans push half of the world's primates toward extinction, lemurs in particular trouble 
(02/18/2010) Of the known 634 primate species in the world 48 percent are currently threatened with extinction, making mankind's closes relatives one of the most endangered animal groups in the world. In order to bring awareness to the desperate state of primates, a new report by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature highlights twenty-five primates in the most need of rapid conservation action. Compiled by 85 experts the report, entitled Primates in Peril: The World's 25 Most Endangered Primates, 2008–2010, includes six primates from Africa, eleven from Asia, three from Central and South America, and five from the island of Madagascar.
Head of UN urges 'a wake-up call' to save biodiversity (02/14/2010) Speaking at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that "business as usual is not an option" to protect the world' s biodiversity. The failure of governments worldwide to meet their pledges to protect biodiversity by 2010 is "a wake up call" according to Ki-moon. New report: world must change model of economic growth to avert environmental disaster (01/25/2010) For decades industrialized nations have measured their success by the size of their annual GDP (Gross Domestic Product), i.e. economic growth. The current economic model calls for unending growth—as well as ever-rising consumerism—just to remain stable. However, a new report by the New Economics Foundation (nef) states that if countries continue down a path of unending growth, the world will be unable to tackle climate change and other environmental issues. Saving biodiversity 'on the same scale' as climate change: German Chancellor (01/11/2010) In a kick-off event for the UN's Year of Biodiversity, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, compared the importance of saving biodiversity to stopping climate change. Gone: a look at extinction over the past decade 
(01/03/2010) No one can say with any certainty how many species went extinct from 2000-2009. Because no one knows if the world's species number 3 million or 30 million, it is impossible to guess how many known species—let alone unknown—may have vanished recently. Species in tropical forests and the world's oceans are notoriously under-surveyed leaving gaping holes where species can vanish taking all of their secrets—even knowledge of their existence—with them.
Governments, public failing to save world's species (11/04/2009) According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) 2008 report, released yesterday, 36 percent of the total species evaluated by the organization are threatened with extinction. If one adds the species classified as Near Threatened, the percentage jumps to 44 percent—nearly half. Alleviating poverty and saving biodiversity are inherently linked argue scientists 
(09/17/2009) Twenty-nine scientists argue in Science today that the world will not be able to lift up the world's poor unless it also addresses global biodiversity loss. They say that the same underlying problems—exploitation of resources, unsustainable overconsumption, climate change, population growth—are exacerbating global poverty and the extinction of species.
Discovering nature's wonder in order to save it, an interview with Jaboury Ghazoul 
(09/08/2009) Sometimes we lose sight of the forest by staring at the trees. When this happens we need something jarring and eloquent to pull us back to view the big picture again. This is what tropical ecologist Jaboury Ghazoul provided during a talk at the Association of Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC) meeting this summer in Marburg, Germany. Throwing out a dazzling array of big ideas and even bigger questions—incorporating natural history, biodiversity, morality, philosophy, and art—the enthusiastic Ghazoul left his audience in a state of wonder.
Investing in conservation could save global economy trillions of dollars annually (09/03/2009) By investing billions in conserving natural areas now, governments could save trillions every year in ecosystem services, such as natural carbon sinks to fight climate change, according to a European report The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB). Examining monkey tools: archaeology expands to include non-human primates (08/17/2009) Archaeology, the study of ancient cultures and their artifacts, has always been confined to the technology of humans and direct human ancestors. However, a new study recently published in the journal Nature examines the benefits of expanding the field of archaeology to include non-human primates. Chimpanzee population plummets 90 percent in supposedly strong region (05/06/2009) Chimp populations continue to decline in Africa. A new survey of our closest relatives in the Cote D’Ivoire found that the population fell from an estimated 8,000 to 12,000 individuals to a paltry 800 to 1,200, a decline that took place in less than twenty years. Male chimps use meat to seduce 
(04/07/2009) Male chimpanzees who share meat with females over a long period of time have a better chance of mating, according to a new study published in PLoS ONE. Studying chimps in Tai National Park, Côte d'Ivoire, researchers from the Mac Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology observed that female chimps have sex more frequently with males who have shared meat with them at least once as opposed to males who never share.
Dedicated rock-throwing chimp proves longterm planning (03/10/2009) Biologists have suspected for a long time that animals other than humans are capable of making plans for future events, but it has proven difficult to show conclusively. However, a new study in Current Biology claims the first unambiguous evidence of an animal premeditating. Mathias Osvath of Lund University in Sweden has spent a decade observing a male chimpanzee in a zoo collecting stones, making them into concrete discs, and then throwing them at zoo visitors.
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