This morning over 500 women heard from Dr Jane Goodall, chimpanzee expert, conservationist and eternal optimist thanks to G Adventures and the Jane Goodall Institute.
The audience was captivated as Dr Goodall spoke about her love for animals as a child and of literature telling us that she was certain “Tarzan married the wrong Jane” and how this lead to her venturing to Africa at just 23 to meet the apes she came to love.
Spending decades studying and documenting the behaviour of chimpanzees, her role has now evolved to activist, champion of local communities and environmental crusader.
With threats to her beloved apes coming from deforestation and hunting by poverty-stricken local communities Jane’s first mission was to empower local villages to take up alternate forms of income. The organisation she founded, Roots and Shoots worked closely with 12 local villages to set up sustainable agriculture and as well as providing education and family planning, a godsend to local women who wanted to focus on building their own businesses.
At 83, Jane continues to travel over 300 days a year championing issues from the school dropout rate of girls in Uganda due to the inaccessibility of sanitary items to the smuggling of baby apes to be sold as pets in Asia. Her key message is of hope for People, Animals and the Environment, urging us all to amend the disconnect between head and heart and make ethical decisions day to day, reiterating that as individuals we truly can make a difference.
G Adventures has partnered with the Jane Goodall Institute to create The Jane Goodall Collection, a series of trips endorsed by Jane Goodall, that allow travellers to get up close to incredible wildlife without compromising their freedom.
G Adventures have also been strong advocates of the work the institute has done to raise awareness of the projects protecting wildlife, empowering communities and saving habitats. Click here for more information.
