Jane Goodall arrived in Colombia with her light and transformative energy thanks to the management of the Antioquian family compensation fund Comfama. / José David Escobar.
Photo: COMFAMA
If someone doesn’t immediately recognize the name Jane Goodall, they are likely to be familiar with the story of an English woman who dedicated herself from a young age to studying the behavior of chimpanzees in Africa. Others may recall several covers of National Geographic over the years featuring her sitting while a chimpanzee picks at her hair, holding one in her lap, cuddled while shaking hands with a baby chimp, or taking notes while observing a group of six of these primates in the forests of Tanzania.
The research work that Jane Goodall has done on nature and the activism she has carried to all corners of the world to open the minds and hearts of communities about the coherent and harmonious relationship that should exist between humans and all components of ecosystems has made her the most respected reference and one that thousands have imitated.
In 1957, Jane arrived by boat in Kenya at just 23 years old and without degrees in any area of the Sciences, but with a deep conviction that originated in her childhood: to study animals in their habitat and verify that they have personality and emotions. Thus, on this trip, which was originally planned to visit friends, she met paleoanthropologist Louis Leakey, who saw in this blonde woman with huge blue eyes the drive and discipline that would lead her from 1960 to discover and understand the behavior in the wild state of our closest relatives, the chimpanzees, with the aim of shedding light on human evolution.
The impressive and revealing evidence that the researcher collected after months spent in the jungle observing chimpanzees made her one of the most important field biologists, which also opened the path for her to enter the PhD program in Ethology at the University of Cambridge, England. In this way, Goodall became the eighth person in the history of that institution to access a doctoral program without a degree. In 1966, Jane graduated with a PhD in Ethology.
Currently, there are thirty-five Jane Goodall Institutes in sixty-five countries and the educational program Roots and Shoots, which she also created, has seventy branches and nearly one million members who have learned and then taught communities to understand that if they destroy forests, they are not only destroying the habitat of different species but are also ending their own survival; they have shown the way for women’s empowerment through productive projects with land, water, plants, and animals; they have convinced hundreds of world leaders of the impact of climate change, and perhaps most importantly, is that many children and young people in those programs have broken the barriers of mental and structural poverty and are now active participants in the change that humanity needs to avoid continuing down the path of destruction of what surrounds it.
Jane Goodall arrived in Colombia with her light and transformative energy thanks to the management of the Antioquian family compensation fund Comfama, which decided to celebrate its seventieth anniversary with the presence of this grand woman, and Nicolás Ibargüen, creator and producer of Elemental, the nonfiction podcast about caring for the planet. This is the interview she gave to El Espectador in a collective meeting with Sara Constantino, content creator on the environment.
El Espectador: In “The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times,” you point out that we live in complex times due to social conflicts, wars, climate change, racism, and all of that produces hopelessness. At the same time, you call for ethical actions that can help conserve the world for future generations. If a person is at home or in their office, reads this and feels that they have no power to change anything, what would you suggest they do to feel part of a change?
J.G.: The first thing is to ask those people to involve their children in the Roots and Shoots program; second, to assure them that anything they think and do at all times of the day has an impact on the planet. For example, when they buy something, they could ask themselves if it is an environmentally friendly product or if it is the result of bad labor practices. It may be more expensive, but people will value it more and end up spending less. Of course, they can also ask what difference it makes if they do that. But it’s not just about the one who makes a purchase; it’s the collective impact and recognizing that people are already attentive to these practices. Millions of people are taking action in this regard, buying ethically, and that is a huge change.
El Espectador: In the same book, you recount the following: “David Barbagris was the first chimpanzee who trusted me, and he was the first I saw use plant stems to extract termites from a termite mound (their earthen nests). I later saw him remove the leaves from a stick for the same purpose. Back then, Science believed that only humans could make tools and that this was one of the conditions that differentiated us from animals.” You also confirmed that chimpanzees have emotions, personality, and intelligence. What do you remember about the world’s reaction when you discovered the opposite of what scientists had claimed up to that point?
J.G.: The first thing I must say is that I learned everything with my childhood dog. With him, I realized that what scientists were saying was incorrect. But from the beginning, I had a gift that allowed me to quietly do things, learn from the chimpanzees, and then travel the world to show people that what I had discovered was true: I was able to show the tenderness that exists between a mother chimpanzee and her baby, or chimpanzees solving problems. For instance, the supervisor of my PhD at Cambridge went to Gombe, Nigeria, and there he could see with his own eyes everything I was arguing.
El Espectador: The rapid development of the human intellect is what distinguishes us from chimpanzees and other animals. Given such a clear advantage, why are we often so violent, irrational, and sometimes so stupid?
J.G.: This relates to our selfishness, as we want to carry on with life at all costs, regardless of what gets in our way: nature, animals, and people too. That is the side of humans that we need to try to change, and that’s why it’s so important to inform young people and to look at what we do with the Roots and Shoots program and the values we highlight there. If we manage to put the youth on the right side of history, then we will be working for a better future. We cannot give up. No matter what it costs us, we have to keep fighting.
El Espectador: You have reiterated the importance of proper language use and a new universal moral code to become more compassionate and peaceful beings. Can this be achieved with adults, or is it only effective if taught from childhood?
J.G.: Children are very important, but on the other side, there are many adults who understand what’s happening. The wonderful thing about children is that they have the ability to positively impact adults’ decisions. But I don’t just talk to children; I also speak a lot to adults, CEOs of major companies, political leaders. We no longer have time to focus on just one group in society; we have to work across the board and with everyone.
El Espectador: Developing countries like Colombia are far from understanding and implementing sustainable public policies to raise awareness among residents about the need to recycle, protect, and love ecosystems, reduce their ecological footprint, care for native species, among many other things. I would like to ask you to make a call regarding the urgency of these actions.
J.G.: There is a desperate urgency to drive all those pending actions forward. That’s why I insist that you, your children, everyone knows about the Roots and Shoots project. I visit the countries where we develop it and meet thousands of children who are passionate about the future. What stresses me out is seeing how some people want to aggressively change others’ thinking. I see that all the time, and that’s not how we achieve the transformations we need. We have to use our hearts.
El Espectador: And how is that done?
J.G.: I’ll give you an example: once I was talking to a CEO of a very important company, and he told me, “Jane, I swear I’ve been working tirelessly for eight years to make my company environmentally sustainable and to have more ethical practices everywhere we sell our products, in our offices, and in how we treat our clients. And do you know why I do it? For three reasons: because we are rapidly depleting our natural resources; because of consumer pressure that increasingly demands ethically made products, but what achieved a balance in how I viewed what I was doing was my little ten-year-old daughter who one day told me, ‘Dad, I’m told that what you do with your company is harming the planet. Is that true? Don’t forget that this is my planet.’”
Sara Constantino: What are the values and attitudes we need to change to improve our relationship with nature?
J.G.: We must recognize that we are making unjust and unrealistic demands. Additionally, we need to consider population growth, understanding that it increases in some areas and decreases in others, but the fact is that by 2050, it is estimated that we will be ten billion inhabitants on Earth.
Sara Constantino: How do you envision the hopeful future you spoke about at the press conference and in the book?
J.G.: We need to imagine a world where rich people stop using two private jets and three houses per family, and where they seek to change outfits all the time. We have to envision a world where people don’t go in search of what they want but of what they need. That is the key to a better future.