_edited.jpg)
Catch her if you can. Dame Dr. Jane Goodall has spent her eighty-five years on this planet preternaturally woke and driven by purpose.
Since she first arrived in Africa in 1960 (Gombe Stream National Park, Tanzania to be exact), solo and, as a young woman, not resembling the average scientific researcher at the time, she has not stopped studying, speaking up and fighting for her beloved chimpanzees, and later, the environment as a whole.
In the process, this rockstar primatologist revolutionized the study of wild animals and the approach to animal welfare. With no plans to retire, her work still has her travelling 300 days of the year giving lectures and continuing to raise awareness. Just think about that for a second. An output of twenty-six books, thirty-eight prestigious awards, forty films focusing on her work and countless keynote speeches delivered. That’s more than just prolific, it’s supernatura
And with her Jane Goodall Institute in twenty-five countries and youth-oriented Roots & Shoots educational organization in over eighty, plus 2017’s highly-re-garded Jane documentary, her reach has never been so broad and her work never as pressing. So it’s understandable that she’d prefer not to sit in a cushy club chair, in a downtown Toronto hotel suite she would like you to know was donated (the owner is a supporter), being photographed and discussing what she deems the “least interesting topic.” Herself. Yet as a natural teller of stories on behalf of others, most of whom cannot speak for themselves, she neglects to realize just how riveting her own story is, even if it’s been told quite a few times before. For each time it reaches a new ear, passionate eye or curious mind, the potential for her work to be supported by more people increases exponentially. Goodall gets that narrative reciprocity is her key currency and generously agreed to share some of her hard-won wisdom.
When did you realize your workhad evolved from scientist to storyteller?
“When I began, I had absolutely no hopeof being a scientist because women didn’tdo that sort of thing. All I wanted to dowas to go to Africa, live with wild animalsand write books about them—that wasthe dream. I went on my own and I hadn’tbeen to college even. Gradually I got toknow the chimps. I documented a chimp Inamed David Greybeard making his owntools. That got the National Geographicexcited and they said they’d fund theresearch. After six months the moneyran out, they sent a photographer [HugoVan Lawick, Goodall’s first husband] and we caught the attention of [scientist] Dr. Louis Leakey and soon enough “Jane and her chimps” was made known around America. After I’d been with the chimps about two years, Leakey said I had to get a degree. There was no time to mess with a B.A., I had to do a Ph.D. I was very nervous. The professors told me I’d done everything wrong: I shouldn’t have given the chimps names, numbers were more scientific. I couldn’t talk about personality, mind or emotion, those being unique to us. But luckily, I’d been taught by my dog as a child that that was rubbish. And so, I was able to continue with chimps names and describing their vivid personalities. Having gotten the Ph.D, I built up a research station and was planning on spending the rest of my life there. It was a wonderful life. I had students there, I could be out in the rainforest every day."
Then in 1986, there was a conferencein Chicago bringing together about sixchimpanzee research sites across Africafor the first time. We had a session aboutconservation, which was shocking: forestsdisappearing right across Africa, chi27numbers dropping, the live animal trade, shooting animals to steal babies to sell. We also discussed the conditions at some captive labs, chimps in medical research, cruelly trained for circuses. I went to that conference by then a scientist with this fabulous life and I left as an activist. It wasn’t a decision. I felt compelled."
You have a unique ability to inspirepeople not just to become moreaware, but really to affect change.How do we all learn to do this inour own way?
“I don’t use tactics and tricks. I’ve learned from experience. I have good Welsh blood in me and I’ve always been a storyteller.It’s very easy to see that the way to move people is to tell stories. It’s no good arguing. It’s not the head you have to reach, it’s the heart.
It can be overwhelming to think ofhow we, as a society, can combatall these environmental stressorsthat are resulting in planet degrada-tion and climate change. What aresome key things you would encour-age us to implement on the individ-ual level to make a difference?
“Think about the consequences of all the little choices we make—what we buy,what we eat, what we wear. Did it harm the environment? Did it involve animals suffering? Or factory farms? Did it involveslave or child labor? If you think about theconsequences with those choices, peoplebegin to make more ethical decisions. That approach is leading us toward a different kind of world. But people will happily munch away on meat, which symbolizes fear, pain and death."
You were an early proponent ofvegetarianism, which has recentlybecome more prevalent in manyparts of the world. Why do youthink there has been this shift?“
Maybe people don’t care about the cruelty,but when you realize that pigs are every bitas intelligent as dogs—it’s fine to be angryabout the dog meat trade, it’s horrible,but how is it any worse than the horren-dous hog farms? Maybe people don’t careabout the harm to the environment? Withmore people eating more meat, billions of animals are being raised for meat, and they’ve got to be fed. Huge areas of the environment are destroyed to feed them. More grain is grown to feed animals than to feed people. Yet, we have starving people. And the animals in their digestive process are creating methane, which is a very bad greenhouse gas."
As you know, the apparel industryis one of the worst environmental polluters. Currently, many brandsare exploring fur-free alternative materials, but oftentimes faux-furis made from carcinogenic plas-tics, which are very harmful to the environment and in turn the animal ecosystem. How do you rectify those kinds of compromises?
“You can’t expect anything to suddenly change. It’s always steps. The kinds of plastics the fashion industry uses, they are not as bad as single-use plastics. The first thing we have to tackle is single-use plastics and plastic straws. Go on any plane and everything is wrapped in plastic.It’s totally shocking because I am always on planes and it really hurts me. In hotels, trash bins are all lined with plastic. You put two tissues in and the whole thing will be thrown out. So I never use the plastic in the bins. If somebody brings a Starbucks in a paper carrier, I save it and put my trash in those. I never touch the plastic in the bins.
Your work inspires unity and collaboration at such a grassroots level. In these politically divisive times, how can we make the environment a unifier we can all come together on?
As we look at politicians in many parts of the world who are turning the clock back in many ways, we must ask ourselves: what can we do? Consumers have a choice. If we don’t buy products made by certain compa-nies because they’re unethical, soon they’ll start doing things differently. The problem is, we have to solve poverty. If you are really poor and live in a certain area, you have to buy the cheapest option because you can’t afford anything els
Can you tell us about your lifestyle.It’s very...
“...Environmentally unfriendly. It is. I amposting a blog on all the little things I doto try and mitigate all of this travel. Roots& Shoots has about 150,000 active groupsall taking action. I would say betweenthem, they plant several million trees ayear. So I think my carbon footprint isprobably absorbed by the trees they plant.
Well I was going to say impressive.I’m in awe of your stamina. How doyou have the endurance to continueto sustain this kind of schedulewhere you are constantly on theroad? What keeps you motivated?
“It’s probably because I know it makes adifference. I wouldn’t do it otherwise. Theamount of people who come up to me andsay ‘I read your book or I went to yourlecture and it changed me.’ The amountof young people everywhere I go whoapproach me with shining eyes and tell mewhat they are doing to make the world abetter place is astounding. And they are.We have to solve poverty, the growinghuman population and then you’ve got cor-ruption. All we can do in the face of theseobstacles is to work with young and olderpeople and just carry on making the worldbetter each day on an individual level withyour own choices. Sometimes that’s thebest way people can influence oth
Your dedication is clearly inspiringacross generations. How importantdo you think it is to find one’s call-ing in order to live a life of purpose?
“This all happened because I had a passionto go and do what I wanted to do. I lovedwild animals and wanted to live with them.That wasn’t a calling, that was following adream which my mother encouraged me to do, even though everyone else laughed at me. At first, it was very self-indulgent, until I felt compelled by the work to share stories and fight for change.I find that young people can be very con-cerned with what they want to do. There is so much choice now. I encourage people to take time to figure it out. At some moment, you’ll realize what you want to do with this life. Just stay open to receive that message when it does come. Also, as my mother said to me when I was ten, “If you really want to do this thing, you’re going to have to work really hard, take advantage of all opportunities, but don’t give up.” It’s almost as if my my path was predestined."
Throughout your career, you’ve challenged the norms and presented bold new ideas. With that comes praise, but also criticism along the way. How do you respond to it?
“You either have ways of refuting criticism and if you haven’t then it’s not worth it. I am really good at ignoring it. I know what I am doing is right. I just get on with it and do it. I am very good at focusing on what matters
It’s clear you care more about experiences than things, but what are your most treasured possessions?
“That’s hard to say. I’ve lived nearly eighty-five years. I’ve got so many precious things:my secondhand Tarzan book I saved up to buy as a little girl; Jubilee, my toy chimpanzee given to me when I was 18 months, then I have another [stuffed animal] Mr.H, that I travel with now all the time. I’ve had him 28 years. He’s a symbol of the indomitable human spirit. He was given to me by a man named Gary Haun. He went blind and decided to be a magician and was told that was impossible. His message was: things may go wrong in your life, but don't give up, there is always a way forward. He now does scuba diving, skydiving and even taught himself how to paint."
When and where are you mosthappy and at peace?
“The place where I can really be me most is in [Bournemouth], England, in the house I grew up in. All the books I had as a child, the trees I climbed, they are all there. There are people coming up saying 'Can I have a selfie?’ Every single airport! They weep. Sometimes they sob. I never say no though.
”Where are you most uncomfortable?
“The thing I hate most in the whole world is having my portrait taken. And I don’t like looking in the mirror."