TORONTO – 2010 represents an enormous landmark for the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) and its founder, Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE. Fifty years ago today, Goodall first set foot on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, in what is now Tanzania’s Gombe National Park. Today, she is a world-renowned primatologist, conservationist and UN Messenger of Peace, and the chimpanzee behavioral research she pioneered there has produced a wealth of scientific discovery. In the last 50 years, her vision has expanded into a global mission to empower people to make a difference for all living things.

“It is hard to believe that 50 years have passed since I began my study of the chimpanzees of Gombe,” said Dr. Goodall. “Half a century of amazing discoveries have helped us redefine our place in the natural world. And most amazing of all is knowing how much more the chimpanzees have to teach us. I look forward to moving into the next half century.”
When 26-year-old Jane Goodall arrived in Gombe on July 14, 1960, Dr. Louis Leakey, famed anthropologist and paleontologist, asked her to observe the behavior of the resident chimpanzees in order to better understand humans. Her early findings—that chimpanzees make and use tools, eat meat and engage in war-like activity—profoundly altered our understanding of what it means to be human. 

Today, the Gombe research is one of the longest running studies of animals in the wild, providing extensive insights into the behaviour and social structure of our closest animal relatives.

The data amassed at Gombe has also informed JGI’s leading-edge community-centred conservation programs which provide local communities the tools to address their basic needs and become economically stable, while managing their natural resources for the long term. Gombe is also where Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots, JGI’s global youth action program, flourished. Now in more than 120 countries worldwide, the program inspires youth of all ages to make positive change happen for people, animals and the environment we all share. Fifty years later, Gombe is truly impacting the next generation.

“We are honoured to be able to play a small part in helping Dr. Goodall to deliver her vision of a world where chimpanzees and the other great apes are secure in the wild, and where people, animals and the environment live in harmony with one another,” said Jane Lawton, Executive Director of JGI Canada. “We would like to extend our sincere thanks to the many generous Canadians that make this work possible!”

For more information, please visit JaneGoodall.ca. Images and video clips are available on request.