Reweaving the tapestry of life, with Dr. Jane Goodall

FORESTS ARE LIFE

All life depends on forests. As carbon is absorbed, oxygen is released. The rampant deforestation rampaging our planet is a catastrophe. Forest degradation contributes to 30 per cent of all global greenhouse gas emissions annually, equaling those from transportation. Trees store carbon and slow climate change: their loss catalyses the eminent crisis.

Rainforests are also far more than the ‘lungs of the earth’. With up to 6,000 tree species in African rainforests alone, covering over 2 million km2, these incredible ecosystems are home to billions of animals, insects, reptiles and plants. Forests support local communities, providing soil, food, materials, shelter and a stable climate. They also hold rich indigenous knowledge of healing, culture and ritual – from unknown medicines to ancient language.

APEX APES

“In 1990 I flew over my tiny Gombe National Park which was part of the great equatorial forest belt,” explains Dr. Jane Goodall. “But when I looked down it had become a tiny island surrounded by completely bare hills. This was when it hit me. If we don’t work with the people who are cutting down the trees, even on the steep slopes, because they’re desperate to grow food for their families, then we’ll never be able to even try and save the chimpanzees.”

For The Jane Goodall Institute, our work may centre on endangered chimpanzees, but protecting these incredible animals positively impacts our entire planet. Found only in Africa, chimpanzee habitat used to spread across central and west Africa as a large unified tropical rainforest hugging the equator. Today, all that remains of this massive forest are small fragments due to rapid deforestation. As the forests vanish so do the chimps: from a wild population in the millions now only 340,000 chimpanzees remain, with three of 24 national communities now extinct.

“I left Gombe in 1986 when I realised how fast chimpanzee habitat was being destroyed and how their numbers were declining,” explains Dr. Goodall. “I visited six chimpanzee range states and learned a great deal about the rate of deforestation as a result of foreign corporations (timber, oil and mining) and population growth in communities near chimpanzee habitat, as more land was needed to expand villages, agriculture and for grazing livestock.”

As human populations encroach on the forest and overexploit natural resources, fragmentation increases. Unsustainable agriculture, felling for charcoal or wood, growing settlements, human conflict and increasing displaced peoples all contribute to deforestation and disappearing great apes. This forms a dangerous reinforcement loop: chimpanzees are seed dispersers essential to forest health, so when they vanish, so do many trees – and nature’s balance is broken.

“You can’t protect chimpanzees unless you protect their habitat, which happens to be the forest. Fortunately, if you protect the forest, then you protect all other animals and plants that make up this web of life. When we plant trees in a forest, many things happen. The trees clean the air, they filter out carbon particles. Make it easier to breathe. They encourage nature’s come back, people can hear birdsong again.”

COMMUNITY SOLUTIONS

After witnessing mass forest loss in her beloved Tanzania, Dr. Jane Goodall had to act. In 1994 The Jane Goodall Institute launched the Tacare programme, collaborating with locals to create a community-conservation approach to self educate, empower and protect their local environment.

In Tanzania alone Tacare is now active in 72 villages, throughout the chimp habitat, plus another six African countries. By marrying science (research, data and tech), relationships (via local communities and partners) storytelling and policy, positive community conservation programs are created, leading to a sustainable future for animals, people and environment.

The approach is holistic, with particular focus on gender equity programs include increasing girls’ education access and scholarships family planning and health facilities to microcredits.

Reliance on local ecosystems is reduced through programs to improve water management, soil fertility and reforestation, plus enabling sustainable livelihoods like agroforestry, bee-keeping and sustainable coffee.

JGI also works with local communities on land planning, so that protected forest reserves and agricultural areas can successfully co-exist.Training, education and resources are also provided, so alternative, more sustainable and more profitable livelihoods emerge, reducing the need for humans to log, enter or depend on the forest – and for rewilding to begin.

Science underpins all programmes. Technology like mobile data-driven GIS and community mapping combined with forest management, enables locals to manage natural resources while JGI identifies key chimp habitats. Combining community knowledge and data-driven solutions allows people and animals to thrive together – and communities to benefit economically, socially and environmentally.

“The villagers have become our partners in conservation,” says Goodall. “They know that protecting the environment benefits them as well as wildlife.”