Jane Goodall's world famous studies of the chimpanzees of Gombe, begun in 1960, represent more than a body of research. They offer a new paradigm for the understanding of nature at large, emphasizing patience, respect, caring, and a minimum of human intervention. This same sense of compassion carries over into her more recent educational work at the Jane Goodall Institute, and especially through the Roots & Shoots program. We asked Dr. Goodall to reflect upon what her years of study have taught her about the child's emotional bond with the Earth.

Jane Goodall's books include The Chimpanzees of Gombe, In the Shadow of Man, and Visions of Caliban. Materials on Roots & Shoots, a global environmental and humanitarian program for youth, can be obtained from The Jane Goodall Institute, Box 599, Ridgefield, CT 06877. Fax (203) 431-4387. For an example of ecoliteracy at its best, we encourage our readers to contact the Institute for information about its educational work.

When I was a child, I spent as much time out of doors as I possibly could. I was fortunate: even when we lived in London there was a garden nearby so that I could spend time each day with grass and trees, small living creatures, and fresh air. And then we moved to a house with a big garden near the sea. Most important, I had a remarkable and understanding mother. Once, she found me (aged 18 months old) watching in fascination the movements of a handful of earthworms I had taken up to my bed. Instead of expressing horror and demanding I throw them out, she quietly told me they would be dead if they could not get back to the earth. I ran with them into the garden. I could tell many similar stories about her wisdom in childraising.

I was lucky in another way. When I was growing up, fifty to sixty years ago, it was safe for children to roam the fields and woods in England. Today, things are very different. There is justifiable fear of kidnap, child abuse and murder, so that caring parents keep tight rein on their youngsters. And perhaps partly because of this, kids spend increasing amounts of time in front of the television or playing computer games. For disadvantaged inner city kids, things are even worse. Not only are they deprived of opportunity to interact with the natural world (many of them never having seen a cow, or heard the dawn chorus), but they are surrounded by violence. What is going on when, in the so-called civilized world, human life is valued so lightly that, as we learn from a recent newspaper report, a 13 year old girl hires an assassin for $10 to kill her 14 year old boyfriend because he did not return her video tape? Or a boy of 12 is shot by a 16 year old because he refused to hand over a quarter?

Is this due to the real violence of war and gangsterism, and the fantasy violence, that appears on television screens and videotapes, the mental fodder of thousands of children growing up today? Is it because of the long hours that mothers as well as fathers spend in the workplace? The breakup of the family? The lack of moral direction that permeates society as a whole? The devaluation of the human as an individual? Without doubt, it is a combination of all these things, the exact ingredients varying from one situation, one tragic case, to the next.

In addition, closeness to nature, and in particular a good relationship with an animal or animals, is an important element in the development of a psychologically well-adjusted child, who will, with luck, become a well-adjusted adult. But unfortunately, nature alone is not enough. First, society as a whole must reevaluate its attude toward non-human life forms and the environment we all share. Even if a child is fortunate enough to have a mother with the understanding that mine had, the attitude of respect for life, fostered in early childhood will be at risk when, during a science class, the child is required to dissect a once-living creature killed simply as a teaching tool. This is even more shocking since the majority of the kids in the class will not take up careers in which the information gained at the cost of suffering will be even marginally useful.

For a student who cares about animals and goes to vet school things can get really tough. Recently at a book-signing, I told a young woman in her second year of veterinarian studies that she would probably need all her strength to keep her ethical concern for individual animals intact. She broke down in tears, saying she was trying hard, but it was so difficult.

The chimpanzees teach us that, though we are indeed a unique species, we are not as different from the rest of the animal world as we once thought. And as we realize that we are not the only beings capable of rational thought, not the only beings capable of mental as well as physical suffering, we are humbled. We learn from our closest living relatives, more about our own place in the nature of things. Five years ago I initiated Roots and Shoots, a program that can be introduced from kindergarten to college. It is my attempt to share with young people something of the knowledge I have acquired from my years in the forests. And too, something of the magic I knew as a child. It is my hope that children who develop a deep respect for animals and the environment may, as they become adults, help to guide tomorrow's world away from material selfishness and greed, and in the direction of understanding, compassion, and love. The philosophy underlying Roots and Shoots (roots creep underground and make a firm foundation; shoots seem new and small but can break through brick walls to reach the light) is to involve young people in hands-on activities that demonstrate care for their environment (whether the wilderness or the city), for non-human animals, domestic as well as wild, and for each other. The movement strives to teach young people the interconnectedness and interdependence of all life forms: we are all in this world together. Above all, it stresses that every individual, human and non-human, matters, and that each one of us can make a difference.

But we have a choice. Will you, I say to young people, use the gift of your life to try to make the world a better place for all living beings - or not?

Copyright 1996 Jane Goodall. All rights reserved.

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