Goodall Asks Educators to Help Protect Planet

As role models for young people, educators have a huge responsibility to help protect the environment, famed primatologist Jane Goodall said Thursday (October 25, 2001) in a keynote speech at the WEAC Convention.

"We are the guardians," she said. "If we don't care for the fragile health of this planet, who will?"

Goodall invited educators to promote her Roots and Shoots program for children. The program fosters respect and compassion for all living things, promotes understanding of all cultures and beliefs, and inspires participants to take action to make the world a better place for the environment, animals and people.

" We are trying to grow a family of caring and compassionate people around the world," Goodall said. In the wake of September 11, she said, "We need to inspire our youth now more than ever before."

Goodall, who received a standing ovation both before and after her address, described how the support and encouragement of her mother, famed anthropologist Louis Leakey and others helped her achieve her childhood goals of working with animals.

She said her research has helped reveal "so much about how chimpanzees resemble us." More people are realizing that chimpanzees in particular, but other animals too, have personalities, minds and feelings.

"Gradually, we're getting a new attitude toward non-human animals," she said.

She said she is hopeful that this growing respect can foster a new way of thinking about how we as humans treat animals and the environment. She said logging and hunting in Africa are threatening the habitats of many animals, including the chimpanzees that she has studied for 35 years in the forests of East Africa.

Unless we change our ways, she said, the chimpanzees "will be driven to the brink of extinction" within 15 years.

Through programs such as Roots and Shoots, she said, "Now people are helping us try to save the chimps."

But the focus of the program is broader, addressing concerns related to the hole in the ozone layer, the burning of fossil fuels, the depletion of forests, the changing climate, as wells as human crime, greed and violence, and now terrorism, she said.

She said she is encouraged by the fact that "nature is resilient, just like the human spirit." People can accomplish great things when they want to, and nature can rebound, she said.

"The message of Roots and Shoots is one of hope," she said. "That young people can make the world a better place for people and animals alike." It's about breaking down barriers we've artificially created between cultures, religions, countries – and between people and animals, she said.

"It promotes love and compassion, and that leads to respect for all life."

On September 11, Goodall said, "we saw the ultimate evil mankind is capable of, but we also saw the ultimate good" in the form of brave rescuers who gave up their lives to save others and in the outpouring of sympathy and compassion and charity. As a result, many people are reassessing their priorities.

One hundred years from now, she said, people will see September 11 as "a wake-up call to the people living this materialistic lifestyle," a lifestyle that is not shared by most people in the world and which ultimately harms animals and the environment.

"Let's not forget our violation of the natural world, from the natural world's point of view, is terrorism," she said.

More Convention coverage
Convention agenda
Roots and Shoots Web site

Posted October 26, 2001