Making a difference

Mindful Metropolis

Dr. Jane Goodall talks about staying focused on her mission, breaking down global barriers and her institute's Roots & Shoots program

Twenty-four years ago Dr. Jane Goodall had an epiphany. The animal rights and environmental activist best known for her study of chimpanzees in the Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania was attending a conference here in Chicago when she realized that the habitats of her beloved friends were being destroyed, not just in Tanzania but across Africa — in order to serve the commercial bushmeat trade and to satisfy the growing human population. The chimpanzee population was plummeting. “I couldn’t go back to that old, beautiful wonderful life,” says Dr. Goodall. “Instead, I took to the road, and used my voice, to raise awareness about the threats facing chimpanzees, their habitat, and, ultimately, our world.”

Since then, the Jane Goodall Institute has become a global nonprofit that empowers people everywhere to make a difference for the environment and all living things. Goodall’s “Roots & Shoots” program encourages tens of thousands of youth in almost 100 countries to identify problems in their communities and take action. The Great Lakes Regional Office of Roots & Shoots is here in Chicago, and will hold several Peace Day events downtown Sept. 16-18. Goodall visited the Windy City in May, and granted us this interview via email.

Dr. Goodall, thank you for granting this interview to Mindful Metropolis, and thank you for visiting Chicago in May. These days find you traveling for most of the year. Amidst a sea of airports and hotel rooms, how do you remain focused on your mission?

One of the advantages of all the travel I do is the amazing people I meet. They help keep me inspired, particularly the young people who are so passionate about making a difference in the world.

You appeared on May 5 at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum in Lincoln Park, sponsored by Milwaukee-based Rishi Tea, which unveiled its Masala Chai — an organic and Fair Trade-certified™ tea concentrate, some of whose proceeds benefit your Institute. How can ethical corporations team up with the Jane Goodall Institute to protect animals and the environment?

Despite trying times, consumers are more eager than ever to do their part for the planet by shopping “green.” Charitable organizations like the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) are trying to further this consumer trend by increasingly recognizing manufacturers that have shown a commitment to doing business in an environmentally and socially responsible way.

In 2007, JGI created the “Good for All” brand to recognize companies and environmentally conscious products that are making the effort to use sustainable processes and socially responsible practices. I am pleased that so many eco-friendly companies have come to the table with innovative ideas and products that are consistent with JGI’s vision and values. A portion of the proceeds from “Good for All” products help support JGI’s efforts including chimpanzee protection and community-centered conservation in Africa, as well as Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots, JGI’s global environmental and humanitarian youth program for young people from preschool through college.

Together, we can truly encourage consumers to make positive changes in their everyday lives that will help the environment and build a more sustainable future.

Are such collaborative partnerships with for-profit companies a new front in the campaign to protect the environment?

While there are still a number of challenges to overcome, many companies are beginning to change. There’s no question that many companies are trying to help people in the countries where they’re operating. They are trying to improve standards of living and help children get educated. There are people who really, really care. And I think more heads of corporations are beginning to feel that way, whether they’ve seen the writing on the wall or looked into the eyes of their grandchildren. Whatever it is, I think more and more are beginning to understand that we’re not in this world just to grow and take. We’re in this world to help and to save something for our future generations.

Public companies can only act in a socially and environmentally responsible way, that is, make decisions, with their shareholders’ approval. Pressure from the public can also encourage a company to change their practices. So again, it comes back to us. The company will be driven by the people who buy the products. So our purchasing decisions affect our environment on a daily basis.

We hear talk these days of yesterday’s global barriers being broken down — especially among today’s youth — thanks to the Internet, travel and trade. How can such cross-cultural movement help us protect the environment?

Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots is breaking-down the barriers we build between people of different countries, religions and cultures. We now have programs for preschool right through university. It’s even appearing in prisons and among senior citizens. It’s also being embraced by staff at various companies. It’s what gives me hope, and what gives me energy to carry on. The shinning eyes: “Dr. Jane, we want to show you what we’ve done to make the world a better place. We want to tell you what we’re doing to make the world a better place and what we plan to do.”

I hope that one of the achievements in the next quarter century is that more and more people around the world will understand that there are actions that each one of us can take to make a difference. This will happen through the Internet, word of mouth and through the development of Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots and other programs coming together to create this critical mass of youth with different values. But if we don’t get there, then during the next quarter of a century we will see the world deteriorating, so it is up to every one of us to become involved locally and to take steps to change the way that we live on this planet.

How has individual involvement in the environmental movement changed since you were a child? These days, what attracts young activists? Is it exposure to the natural world?

The Internet has broken down a number of barriers for the environmental movement since I was a child. People from all over the world can learn about different environmental issues. They can share their thoughts, organize, and collaborate with each other to overcome the threats facing the planet and its well being. For example, members of Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots use the website (www.rootsandshoots.org) and social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter to exchange ideas and share success stories in addition to traditional newsletters and word of mouth.

At the Nature Museum, you also told us, “If I’d imagined what I’d be doing today, when I was out in the forest, I think I would have gone deeper and deeper into the forest and never emerged, but it was thrust upon me. So I went in as a scientist and I came out an activist.” Was there a particular moment when you realized what your calling was? Would you change anything about the path you’ve taken?

It actually all began in 1986. You know, in the beginning of the year, I was in a dream world. I was out there with these amazing chimpanzees. I was in the forests I dreamed about as a child. I was doing some writing and a little bit of teaching once a year. And then I attended a conference in Chicago organized by my good friend Dr. Paul Heltne that brought together people who were studying chimpanzees across Africa and a few who were working with captive chimps, non-invasively. We were together for four days and we had one session on conservation.

It was so shocking to see right across the chimpanzees’ range in Africa, forests were being destroyed, human populations were rapidly growing, the commercial bushmeat trade, the commercial hunting of wild animals for food, was beginning and chimpanzees were increasingly being caught in snares. The chimpanzee population was plummeting. When I left the conference, I couldn’t go back to that old, beautiful wonderful life. Instead, I took to the road, and used my voice, to raise awareness about the threats facing chimpanzees, their habitat, and, ultimately, our world.

You’ve been a hero and an idol to countless people throughout the world. But who are your heroes or idols? Is there anyone, in particular, with whom you’d love to have lunch?

My mother and my grandmother were certainly inspirational. Muhammad Yunus, who founded Grameen Bank with its amazing microcredit program that has done so much to change the lives for the poorest of the poor, is also one of my all-time heroes.

What advice do you have for budding young environmental activists today? And what are the most important current causes in which they should get involved? Climate change? Animal rights?

I would say never to give up and to get involved. We need to step up to the challenge now. There are so many opportunities for people to step up in a positive, lasting and meaningful way — to think globally and live locally. I would encourage young people to get involved in Roots & Shoots, identify the issues that concern them, whether in their own backyard or across the globe, and take action to make a difference for people, animals and the environment we all share.

The Great Lakes Regional Office of your Roots & Shoots program is located in Chicago. Tell us about Roots & Shoots and how it relates to the work for which you are most known — researching and protecting chimpanzees.

When I was in Gombe I was just concerned with learning about the behavior of one group of chimps. Then I realized that chimps across Africa were becoming extinct and so I traveled around Africa and talked about conservation. It was not long after that I realized how many of the problems in Africa are due and left over from colonialism and the continued exploitation of Africa's resources. While travelling in Europe, Asia and North America, I realized how many young people had lost hope, which led me to establish a global program for young people, Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots, which is now in more than 120 countries. Roots & Shoots involves young people from preschool right through university.

Roots & Shoots’ main message is that that every one of us makes an impact on the world every day. It's helping individuals to understand that though they may feel their small actions don't make a difference, it's not just them. Cumulatively, our small decisions, choices and actions, make a very big difference.

Roots & Shoots is youth driven. The members get together with their peers, teachers, and/or family members to talk about the problems around them. They then choose three projects that they feel would make things better: one for people, one for animals and one for the environment.

Roots & Shoots is working. We are changing lives on a daily basis. Young people are empowered to want to make a difference in their world. I think this is why it's growing so rapidly.

How often do you make it back to Gombe National Park in Tanzania, where you first arrived in 1960 to study the chimpanzee communities 50 years ago this year? What significance does that setting hold for you?

I return twice a year, not for very long though, just long enough to replenish my spirit as it is refuge for me. Most of my old chimp friends are gone. The very original ones have all gone. Now, a research team is following and learning about the great-grandchildren of the chimps that I originally studied.

What’s next for the Jane Goodall Institute? Are any new ventures in the works?

JGI is a global organization. We are planning to build an endowment that will enable us to secure the future for the Gombe research and the Institute’s core programs. It will provide security for our sanctuaries for orphaned chimpanzees whose mothers have been killed for the illegal commercial bushmeat trade, and to help improve the welfare of captive primates. And, it will give Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots program a legacy foundation.

Are you reading anything good right now? Any favorite foods?

At the moment, I am proofreading Dale Peterson's new book The Moral Lives of Animals, which will be published in the United States by Bloomsbury in the late spring of 2011. Dale is the author of my biography, Jane Goodall: The Woman Who Redefined Man.

Regarding favorite foods, I love good dark chocolate, organic cheese and well-cooked vegetables (beans, spinach, mashed potatoes, mushrooms, broccoli etc.)"