the Jane Goodall Institute

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the Jane Goodall Institute

We are a global community conservation organization that advances the vision and work of Dr. Jane Goodall.
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JGI is a global community-led conservation organization that advances the vision and work of Dr. Jane Goodall to create a better world for people, other animals, and the planet we share. By protecting chimpanzees and inspiring people to conserve the natural world we all share, we improve the lives of people, animals and the environment. Everything is connected—everyone can make a difference.

06/18/2026

Meet two Roots & Shoots alums from the program's founding to the recent past, and learn how Roots & Shoots impacted them! 🌱

🩺 Collin Mothupi was one of the original members of Jane Goodall's Roots & Shoots, pictured in the very first photo with Jane! His Roots & Shoots projects led him to study healthcare, and now he proudly serves as chairman of the board of Pathfinder International, which fosters healthcare solutions for young women and girls.

🎥 Virginia Johnson is a recent Roots & Shoots alum! She was drawn to Roots & Shoots' emphasis on young people as leaders, and was a member of our Roots & Shoots Youth Council for six years before becoming one of our fellows. Now, she uses her voice and compassion to pursue her dream of environmental storytelling at Vital Impacts.

This year, we're celebrating 35 years of Roots & Shoots! With stories like these to inspire us, we're looking forward to many more years of hope in action. 🌟

Learn more about Roots & Shoots >> rootsandshoots.org

📸 credits:

1: Jane Goodall Institute

2: Virginia Johnson

06/15/2026

Did you know that chimpanzees are capable of complex social dynamics, highlighting our close connection to them? A fascinating Gombe study, "Chimpanzee fathers bias their behaviour towards their offspring," published in 2016, shows that even in species with promiscuous mating like chimpanzees, fathers provide crucial care for their own.

Some males in other species have little interest in their young — even fellow mammals. (Male grizzly bears, for example, are known to be solitary while females care for their cubs.) However, this study discovered that chimpanzee dads spend more time with their own infants. They provide protection, especially when their young are most vulnerable. This paternal effort underscores a deep-rooted capacity for fatherly care and offers intriguing insights into our own evolutionary past.

📸: Hugo van Lawick

Alt Text:
An adult male chimpanzee plays with an infant chimpanzee (left), next to two adolescent chimpanzees (right) on the forest floor.

06/11/2026

Why did Jane Goodall always carry a monkey stuffed animal? 🤔🐒

Jane's beloved plush companion, called Mr. H, made people smile. Mr H helped Jane connect with young people, which was essential to her mission to inspire the next generation. Jane also loved to tell stories, and Mr H's origin story was one of her favorites.

Jane received Mr. H as a gift from a man named Gary Haun, who thought he was giving Jane a plush chimpanzee. Jane demonstrated that Mr. H has a tail, and is in fact a monkey — chimpanzees are apes, and do not have tails!

Gary Haun is a former U.S. marine who lost his eyesight. When he wanted to become a magician — a career well-known for optical illusion — many people told him it would be impossible. He became a magician anyway. Jane admired his perseverance and decided to always carry Mr. H with her as a symbol of the indomitable human spirit. Mr. H accompanied Jane on global stages around the world, including six out of seven continents for Jane's 90th birthday tour!

Want a Mr. H of your own? Shop Mr. H Jr on the JGI estore, with all proceeds benefitting JGI's work and programs: https://shop.janegoodall.org/product/mr-h-junior-organic-cotton-plush/jgi489

📸: Pigcasso, JGI/Mary Paris, Call Her Daddy

06/09/2026

🐵 Introducing one of the newest members of the Tchimpounga family: Beau 💚

Beau is a young chimpanzee whose journey to safety began after he was rescued from the illegal wildlife trade in the Republic of the Congo.

Purchased from a poacher and later discovered by local authorities in Mandingou, Beau was confiscated and placed under protection. The Jane Goodall Institute team then traveled to recover the infant and bring him to the Tchimpounga sanctuary, where he received the specialized care he needed.

Beau, whose name means “beautiful,” arrived at Tchimpounga on October 29, 2025, weighing just 5 pounds. Today, he is safe and surrounded by a dedicated team committed to his wellbeing.

Every rescued chimpanzee has a story, and Beau’s is a reminder of why the fight against the illegal wildlife trade is so important.

📸: Fernando Turmo

Alt Text: Close-up photo of an infant chimpanzee in a lush forest setting.

06/08/2026

Happy World Ocean Day! 🌎🌊 Oceans sustain biodiversity, regulate our climate, and support the livelihoods of billions. Yet they are under increasing threat from pollution, climate change, and human activity. Around the world, Jane Goodall's Roots & Shoots groups are continuing the Jane Goodall Institute's conservation legacy and showing that there is no single way to protect the ocean.

🔍 Puerto Rico: Through a Bioblitz, they mapped species, assessed climate change impacts, and diverted hundreds of pounds of waste from the coastline.

🐢 Spain: “Ecoimplicados” are protecting the marine life of Tenerife's coastline by running dawn watches and weekly clean-ups — work that led to the rescue of two sea turtles.

📚 India: Through the "Oceans Are Us" initiative, students, youth, and educators explored marine biodiversity, plastic pollution, and the everyday choices that affect ocean health.

🌊 Hong Kong: Volunteers took to the beach to tackle marine pollution firsthand.

🧹 Sierra Leone: Beach and community clean-ups tackling plastic pollution, bringing together youth and residents from diverse backgrounds around a common goal.

Different coastlines, different methods — one shared commitment to the ocean. 💙

📸 Credits:
Jane Goodall's Roots & Shoots Global
1: Frans Lanting
2: R&S Puerto Rico
3: R&S Spain
4: R&S India
5: JGI Hong Kong
6: Tacugama

06/07/2026

Happy World Swift Day! 🐦

Dr. Jane Goodall was a passionate advocate for swifts, who can fly for up to ten months without stopping. She served as the World Swift Day patron up until her passing in 2025, and now Brian May has swooped in as the new World Swift Day patron 🪶

Listen to Jane's 2024 World Swift Day message to learn more about why she loved these remarkable birds, who have supreme flying ability, impressively long migrations, and sleep on the wing (meaning they can enter a state of rest or sleep even while in the air)! These incredible creatures are facing habitat loss, and declining insect populations impact their insectivore diet. Help them by getting the word out because as Jane says, more we know, the more we care, and the more we care, the more we help! 🌿

06/02/2026

🐝🌱 In western Tanzania, native bee populations are doing more than just making honey — they’re helping local people and the environment!

Many challenges to conservation, including development of wildlife habitats for agriculture and small settlements, are an indirect result of social issues like poverty. JGI's community-led approach to conservation, which we call Tacare, includes working with local people to come up with alternative, sustainable livelihoods that support people without the environmental cost. Beekeeping is just one example! 🌳🤝

To support this livelihood, The Jane Goodall Institute- Tanzania staff provide materials and train local people on sustainable apiculture (a fancy word for beekeeping) practices. These practices use native Tanzanian honeybees that don't disrupt the ecosystem, and prioritize the health and wellbeing of the bees for a thriving hive. With this support, they can produce and sell honey and beeswax. 🍯🕯️

And guess what? You can buy this honey through our partnership with Burlap & Barrel Single Origin Spices! 5% of the retail price of each jar sold will be donated to support JGI’s work with communities in western Tanzania — shop now >> https://www.burlapandbarrel.com/collections/sugar-and-honey

Learn more about honey production in Tanzania >> https://news.janegoodall.org/2024/11/29/introducing-sustainable-honey-with-burlap-barrel-sweet-solutions-for-conservation/

📸 credit: Burlap & Barrel

06/01/2026

🌿 We'd like to introduce you to an old friend of Jane's: Wilkie. Wilkie holds the record for fathering the most known offspring to date. Born in 1972, shortly after Jane's arrival in Gombe, Wilkie has been a central figure in her research, allowing her to observe his remarkable journey from infancy to becoming a father of over 10!

Although Wilkie passed away in 2013, his legacy lives on through the many children he left behind. His life and contributions continue to provide valuable insights into the social dynamics of chimpanzees and the profound connections we share with them. 🐵🌱

*The Jane Goodall Institute does not endorse handling, interacting or close proximity to chimpanzees or other wildlife.*

📸: Michael Neugebauer

05/28/2026

"We were lucky to have a soul like [Jane's]. And we were lucky that she decided to invest her life the way she did," says her grandson, Merlin van Lawick. "I’m doing what I can because I feel there’s a part of me that can contribute to the mission."

In an interview with Mongabay.com conducted at ChangeNOW 2026, Merlin shares how Dr. Jane Goodall shaped who he is today and how her legacy will continue through the Jane Goodall Institute, which Merlin has been a part of "for as long as he can remember." Read the full interview: https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/hope-is-rooted-in-action-interview-with-jane-goodalls-grandson-merlin-van-lawick/

Jane Goodall Institute France

05/26/2026

Introducing "Nadzikambia goodallae," a newly discovered chameleon species named for Dr. Jane Goodall! 🦎

A team of scientists observed this animal in the sky island forests of Mozambique, which are isolated granite mountains that are home to a number of unique species. ⛰️

These sylvan chameleons are difficult to spot because, in addition to their ability to camouflage, they prefer to perch high in the canopy. Kudos to the research team, led by herpetologists Krystal Tolley and Werner Conradie, who successfully cataloged Nadzikabia goodallae! 🔎

This chameleon unfortunately faces pressures from loss of rainforest habitat, and it was named for Jane as an homage to her own work to conserve forests for chimpanzees and other wildlife. It is a fitting honor for a scientist who believed that we must preserve our planet for all who call it home. 💚

PS - Can you guess the difference between the male and female chameleons? Females are all green, and males have orange markings and black around the eye.

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