Reason for Hope: Visit from Jane Goodall
Newsletter 13/06/2022
In the last week, Jane Goodall visited the European LIFE Northern Bald Ibis project. This famous and charismatic scientist revolutionized our society’s thinking about the relationship between humans and animals with her field research on chimpanzees in the 1960s. Jane Goodall DBE and UN Messenger of Peace, is regarded worldwide as a beacon of hope who, even at the age of 88, is still committed to a world worth living in for people, animals, and nature with unbroken optimism.
The pandemic has forced the scientist, who lives in Great Britain, to cancel her trips and move her lectures online over the last couple of years. The shooting of an international cinema production took her back to Austria and to our project sites. She has been dedicated to our project for many years. In the past, she visited our projects, took over an honorary sponsorship, and presented the project in her lectures. The commitment of the project against illegal bird hunting in Italy is particularly close to her heart.
Jane Goodall visited the Austrian breeding colony at Georgenberg in Kuchl and the training camp in Seekirchen am Wallersee, country of Salzburg, where 31 hand-reared Northern Bald Ibises are currently learning to follow an ultralight aircraft. Goodall, who appears unshaken even in old age, used the opportunity for a sightseeing flight with the project manager and pilot Johannes Fritz.
At a press conference in Kuchl Jane Goodall acknowledged the successes of this European reintroduction project, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year and starts up with a second European LIFE project under leadership of Zoo Vienna. Jane Goodall also addressed her very personal motto: Reason for Hope. Despite all the major current problems, she has never lost her optimism. She justifies this with the commitment of numerous people and institutions around the world. She also founded many projects and initiatives, including several Jane Goodall Institutions, as well as “Roots and Shoots”, the worldwide network of committed children and young people. For Jane Goodall, reason for hope is not about passively waiting, but rather about taking initiative and responsibility.
Picture: Dr Jane Goodall visiting the Northern Bald Ibis project in Kuchl from left: Johannes Fritz (project manager), Emanuel Liechtenstein (Förderverein Waldrappteam), Mayor Thomas Freylinger, Dr. Jane Goodall, Stephan Hering-Hagenbeck (Vienna Zoo) and State Councilor Daniela Gutschi Photo: State of Salzburg / Franz Neumayr 02.06.2022
