 
|
You'll find more information about Jane and the Jane Goodall Institute at About JGI. For more about the Roots & Shoots program check out Roots & Shoots FAQs.
• What is the Jane Goodall Institute?
• Is the research at Gombe still continuing today?
• How has this research helped chimpanzees?
• What is the JGI TACARE ("Take Care") program?
• What is the Roots & Shoots program?
• What are the Orphan Chimpanzee Sanctuaries
Q: What is the Jane Goodall Institute?
A: The Jane Goodall Institute (JGI), founded in 1977, is a global nonprofit that empowers people to make a difference for all living things. Grounded in Dr. Jane Goodall's pioneering study of chimpanzee behavior, begun in Gombe National Park, Tanzania, in 1960, the Jane Goodall Institute emphasizes the power of the individual to make a difference. The institute focuses on education, conservation and development, and wildlife research.
For more on the Jane Goodall Institute check out the Jane Goodall Web site.
Q: Is the research at Gombe still continuing today?
A: Dr. Goodall's groundbreaking chimpanzee research in Gombe National Park continues to this day. Recent findings through fecal analysis are providing valuable insight about disease transmission and the origins of HIV origins, while behavior research focuses on aggression and territoriality, chimpanzee culture and more.
For more on the chimps of Gombe go to Meet the Chimps.
Q: How has this research helped chimpanzees?
A: JGI's ChimpanZoo program helps zoos design optimal environments for captive chimpanzees. JGI's Center for Primate Studies has compiled all the research data from Gombe — more than 320,000 pages of paper data and more than 8,000 images and hundreds of hours of video footage. CPS has developed a computer database covering more than 30 years of Gombe research data.
Q: What is the JGI TACARE ("Take Care") program?
A: The JGI TACARE ("Take Care") community-centered conservation programs in Congo and Tanzania preserve and restore the environment while giving hope to thousands of families through initiatives that improve health care, promote economic development, and support sustainable livelihoods. TACARE empowers villagers to build sustainable livelihoods while promoting regional conservation goals such as reforestation and an end to the illegal commercial bush meat trade. The programs are controlled and embraced by the local people.
Q: What is the Roots & Shoots program?
A: Based on the principle that knowledge leads to compassion that inspires action, JGI's Roots & Shoots program engages youth of all ages through service learning. R&S groups create hope in more than 87 countries. They're cleaning up riverbeds, teaching peers about endangered species and the importance of care and welfare for all animals, and organizing events that celebrate different cultures. Roots & Shoots has groups in rural, suburban and inner-city neighborhoods in the United States and other countries, in villages in Ecuador and China, and even in refugee camps in Africa.
Join a Roots & Shoots discussion group.
Q: What are the Orphan Chimpanzee Sanctuaries?
A: The Jane Goodall Institute Sanctuary program came into being to respond to the plight of chimpanzee infants whose mothers were shot for food.
There is little "meat" on infants, so hunters often try to sell them as pets or attractions in hotels or bars. This is illegal, as chimpanzees are classified as endangered in almost all African countries. But local authorities are reluctant to confiscate the chimps unless there is a sanctuary to receive the orphans. Caring for orphan chimpanzees is costly. They may live 60 years and can almost never be returned to the wild. "There were many who urged me not to get involved with orphan chimps," recalls Jane Goodall, "but for me there was no dilemma. I could not turn my back on the outstretched hands; the pleading eyes; the pathetic, malnourished bodies of the orphans. And so, our sanctuary programs began."
Today, JGI's donors support chimpanzee sanctuaries in Kenya, Uganda and the Republic of Congo, with a fourth being constructed in South Africa.
