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Los
Angeles Times
November
1, 2008
by Thomas
H. Maugh II
Jane Goodall's research has changed
the definition of what it means to be a human. When she went
to what is now Tanzania in 1960 to study the chimpanzees
of Gombe, humans were thought to be the only animals capable
of making and using tools. Goodall showed not only that chimps
could do that, but also that they had personalities and complex
social lives, could hunt for game and even engage in warfare.
She is to be in San Francisco today to accept the Leakey
Foundation's prestigious Leakey Prize in human evolutionary
science. This week, Goodall, 74, answered questions in a
phone interview.
--
Will we still have primates in 50 years?
We shall have lost some of them, but absolutely we will have
some.
--
What are the greatest threats now?
Deforestation and human population growth . . . and the bushmeat
trade, which does go on all over the world. It's a very great
threat for the great apes: the gorilla, the chimpanzee and
the bonobo.
As logging companies open up the forest with roads, hunters
can now have access to more inaccessible parts of the forest.
They are shooting everything -- elephants, primates, other
animals. Then they are carried out on the same roads. It's
totally unsustainable and a major threat in the Congo basin.
--
Is there anything we can do about it?
We're concentrating on youth education with our Roots & Shoots
program, getting them to come and see the chimps. Most Africans
don't get to see these wild animals at all. Once they see
and learn about them, they are much more likely to become
involved in protecting the environment.
--
Your work has shifted from scientific research to humanitarian
efforts. What happened?
In Tanzania, the chimps are isolated in a very tiny patch
of forest. I flew over it 13 years ago and realized that,
basically, all the trees had gone, that people all around
the park are struggling to survive. It became very clear
that there was no way to protect the chimps while the people
were in this dire circumstance.
We started Take Care, a very holistic program aimed at improving
the lives of people in the villages. It emphasizes ways of
farming in a very degraded landscape, ways of restoring overused
farmland so it can become productive, giving credit to women
and scholarships to keep girls in school, and providing information
about family planning.
As women's education and empowerment improves, family size
drops. It is the constant growth of population that is underlying
so much destruction everywhere.
--
Is it working?
Around the Gombe chimps, many of the villages now have forests
going again. In five years, you can get a 30-foot tree growing
from a seemingly dead stump.
We're working with farmers to get them a really good price
for their coffee. The villages are so pleased with us that
they have agreed with the land management plan to leave 10%
to 20% of village land aside for conserving forest or regeneration.
The chimps will be able to get out of Gombe and rejoin with
other groups.
The size of the family has begun to show signs of getting
smaller. In 32 villages, the average number of surviving
children was seven. It's now down to five, but we have to
get it down to two. That includes people in the developed
world as well. One child in developed society is using so
much more resources than a child in an African village.
--
How much time do you spend in Africa now?
I travel 300 days a year. I get to Gombe twice a year, the
maximum, a week at a time. Usually, there is a film team
tagging along or a group of VIPs, which hinders what I want
to do, which is to get out in the forest by myself.
The rest of my time I spend at my sister's house in Bournemouth,
on the south coast of England. That's where I keep all my
stuff and do my writing.
--
Do you miss research?
I think back to those days when I get to Gombe briefly and
climb up into the mountains by myself. I think, "My
goodness! What have I let myself in for?"
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