2017-06-20
Ms PENNICUIK (Southern Metropolitan) — Last Friday night my goddaughter, Emily, who has just completed a degree in zoology and animal science, and I went to hear Dr Jane Goodall speak in Melbourne. Jane Goodall is a hero of ours and of the thousands of people who were there to hear her speak and the millions of people all over the world who support and work for her many conservation programs.
Dr Goodall spoke about her childhood in the UK — how her father gave her a toy chimpanzee called Jubilee in honour of a chimpanzee born in London zoo and how her mother always nurtured and encouraged her interest in and love for animals and her ambition to become a scientist, specifically to study chimpanzees in Africa and write books about them, which of course she has done, documenting their behaviour and social relationships from close observation of them for 57 years now.
It was Jane Goodall who in 1960 observed chimpanzees making and using tools, which until then had been thought to be the preserve of human beings. Forty years ago she established the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI), which supports the ongoing work of the Gombe Stream National Park and the protection of chimpanzees and their habitats.
Roots & Shoots is one of the best known of the JGI programs. It is running in countries all around the world, and it encourages young people to get involved in projects to help people, animals and the environment. Jane spoke about the magic of nature and the threats that are facing us, particularly climate change and habitat loss, which is threatening so many species, including chimpanzees. She spoke about hope for the future, which is her key message.