In the 50 years since Dr Jane Goodall

first set foot on the shores of Lake

Tanganyika in what is now Tanzania’s

Gombe National Park, the chimpanzee

behavioural research she pioneered

there has produced a wealth of scientific

discovery, and her vision has expanded

into a global mission to empower

people to make a difference for all

living things.

The Gombe research started in 1960

with Jane Goodall’s observations of

chimpanzee behaviour and became one

of the longest-running studies of animals

in the wild. But it is so much more.

The Gombe research has helped

provide answers to many of the world’s

most-compelling questions, including:

• What it means to be human;

• How certain diseases are spread;

• How to balance the needs of people

and nature;

• How to stop the destruction of

tropical forests, a major factor in

climate change;

• How to improve the plight of women

in developing countries;

• How to help people in developing

countries foster environmentally

and economically sustainable

communities; and

• How to prepare young people to address

the issues impacting our planet.

The impact of the Gombe research

spans the globe and covers a wide

range of scientific disciplines,

including human evolution, ethology,

anthropology, behavioural psychology,

sociology, conservation, disease

transmission (including HIV-AIDS),

aging and geospatial mapping.

Dr Goodall and the Gombe research

have inspired a generation of scientists

around the world, a great many of

them women, to work not just in

chimpanzee behaviour but more broadly

in conservation.

In recognition of Gombe National

Park’s irreplaceable position in our

world’s natural heritage and its

outstanding value to humanity, the

United Republic of Tanzania has

selected the park for consideration as a

United Nations World Heritage site.

Links:

• New Jane Goodall UK website