1.   New JGIA Website Launch

We are very excited to announce that we have a shiny new website! Just in time for Dr Jane’s upcoming visit, we have launched an updated version of janegoodall.org.au and would love for you to have a look. It has a modern look, new content and everything you need to know about us in one place. We hope that you will enjoy it as much as we do. And of course if you love our website, please also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

2. Dr Jane in Australia in June

Just in case you have been hibernating… Dr Jane Goodall is coming to Australia in June! We will be travelling around the country to Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney for public lectures, Roots & Shoots workshops and many other events. Dr Jane has been featured recently in some great Australian media like the ABC, Sydney Morning Herald and Cosmos Magazine, with more to come. If you would like the chance to see her live, buy your tickets today or sign up to Roots & Shoots. To keep up to date and access special opportunities, become a member of the JGIA family.

3.  Chimp Guardian Campaign and Anzac Biscuits

ANZAC Day each year we commemorate our brave women and men in service, and at JGI’s Tchimpounga Sanctuary, we have a special chimpanzee that reminds us about sacrifice. Anzac, so named because she arrived at the sanctuary on ANZAC Day, has a missing arm as a result of illegal poaching activities.

Orphaned chimps like Anzac need care and attention every day. To help us raise funds and awareness for their care, we’ve created our very own chimp Anzac Cookie video recipe which you can make for your friends and family, or hold a bake sale at your school, university or work. You can also help by becoming a Chimp Guardian or Roots & Shoots Chimp Champion to ensure that Anzac and her friends continue to lead healthy and happy lives.

4. March for Science on Earth Day

Earth Day was Saturday, April 22, and we celebrated by marching with thousands of others across Australia! JGIA is very proud to be an official partner of the March for Science, where more than 4,000 people in Melbourne and 3,000 in Sydney marched to highlight the importance of science in today’s world. Thanks to Asitha, Mel, Lauren, Jessica, Nicky and Zara for representing JGIA and our National Youth Leadership Council at this important event. And special congratulations to Lauren and Nicky on great ABC News and radio interviews! To support this amazing initiative visit the March for Science website

5. Primates in Entertainment

Animals are not entertainment, yet sadly many media outlets are still not getting the message. Last week, we received several concerned emails about a clip of a small primate in Japan, dressed in sports clothes and playing tennis, that that was receiving a lot of attention online. Unfortunately many leading media outlets were sharing the clip. One young man from Melbourne was so shocked that he wrote to the network responsible to express his disappointment. We applaud and support Hunter’s actions and have encouraged him to join or start a Roots & Shoots group in his area.

Our work to end the use of animals as entertainment continues as we aim to raise awareness globally. If you like to help us please donate to JGIA today and to find out more about our position on great apes in entertainment, visit our JGIA website.

To keep up to date and access special opportunities, become a member of the JGIA family. Of course you can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

1. Travel with JGIA and RAW Africa

If you are anything like us, travelling to Africa to see great apes in their habitat has always been a dream. We are very pleased to announce that, thanks to our long-standing partnership with RAW Africa, you can make that dream a reality. If you are searching for an adventure unlike any other, we invite you to take part in a 16-day visit to Africa, tracing the footsteps of Dr Jane Goodall and experiencing the wonders of Uganda with a small group of like-minded travellers.

On your adventure you will visit not only the great apes, but also the JGI projects in the region and get to experience JGI’s impact firsthand. Highlights of the trip include Ngamba Chimpanzee Island, where chimpanzees rescued from illegal trade are rehabilitated and released onto the island to live out their lives in complete safety. You will also visit Boomu Women’s Group near Murchinson Falls, a JGI initiative to help local women earn an income without relying on the forests that are home to chimpanzees. In Queen Elizabeth National Park, you will love the boat ride along the Kazinga channel, so full of hippos, elephants, buffalo and water birds (and even leopard and tree climbing lions!) that you will wonder how they all fit. Of course for great ape lovers, the treks to see the chimpanzees and mountain gorillas are​ the ultimate adventure and you will not be disappointed as these incredible creatures allow us to get up close and quietly observe what they are doing. It is truly unforgettable!

This is a JGIA approved experience and now is the time to book, as there are just a few spots left on the July and September 2017 tours. Prices are $5800pp and a percentage will go towards JGIA and the incredible projects that you will visit. Take the journey of a lifetime; to not only experience the wonderful work of JGI in East Africa, but to also connect with unforgettable people, wildlife and cultures. To find out more, visit Raw Africa’s Jane Goodall Tour page or contact brooke@rawafricaecotours.com.

2. Final week to collect mobile phones for chimp conservation

With the end of Term 1 almost upon us, time is running out to register your school to join our 2017 Mobile Phone Recycling & Reuse Campaign. Many people don’t realise that mobile phones contain coltan, a mineral that is mined from crucial great ape habitat in East and Central Africa. Although coltan can be extracted from old mobile devices and reused, in 2008 more than 70% of the world’s supply was newly mined. The good news is that you can help reduce the need for new coltan simply by donating your unwanted mobile phones!

Throughout Term 1, Australian schools can register to collect unwanted mobile phones to raise money for chimpanzee conservation. All phones that are collected will be refurbished then resold by PhoneCycle, or broken down into individual parts for recycling by MobileMuster. Our generous partners then donate the funds raised to the Jane Goodall Institute Australia to support our efforts to save endangered chimpanzees. As a special treat, the school that collects the most mobile phones will win a personalised recorded video message from Dr Jane thanking them for the wonderful contribution! For more information contact us at recycle@janegoodall.org.au or visit our JGIA or R&S websites.

3. Welcome to our new NYLC members

We are excited to announce that over the last month we have welcomed 10 new members to our National Youth Leadership Council (NYLC)! The NYLC are a passionate group of 16-23 year olds from around Australia who are dedicated to creating positive and sustainable change. They are the youth voice of Roots & Shoots Australia and are provided with a platform to learn, grow, and collaborate on campaigns that make the world a better place and inspire the next generation of changemakers. To find out more about the NYLC and meet the new team, visit our website.

4. Kate walks in Dr Jane’s shoes at Gombe

These past few months our Queensland R&S State Coordinator, Kate Garland, has been volunteering at JGI Italy’s Sanganigwa Children’s Home in Kigoma, Tanzania. While in Tanzania, Kate was lucky enough to visit the place where JGI all began, Gombe Stream National Park. Here’s a snippet from her behind-the-scenes experience of walking in Dr Jane’s shoes:

“I woke up early in the morning to be guided to the chimpanzees by Khalfan Kikwrley, the son of one of the founding members of Roots & Shoots. We began the trek, walking along the crystal clear beach of Gombe as baboons scampered ahead of us into the forest and butterflies lofted around the shoreline. Then the real work began, as we entered the forest and quickly ascended Gombe’s notoriously steep mountains. It was then that I felt complete admiration for Jane’s courage and perseverance, for Gombe’s arduous inclines and high humidity leave very little time for rest when chasing the much more nimble chimpanzees. Nevertheless, all my perspiration was rewarded when ahead of me a black flash hurled through the bushes. This fuzzball, who I later found was Nasa, was followed by the rest of the Kasekela Chimpanzee community – the very community Jane studied. The group is led by the recently appointed alpha-male Fudge, who gained power last year after a heated coup d’etat which resulted in the overthrow of the older tyrant, Ferdinand. Most of the chimpanzees that Jane studied have passed away, but remaining stars include Gremlin, Gaia, Gizmo, Nasa, and Fudge. Surrounding them are their children and grandchildren, direct evidence for Gombe’s success in protecting chimpanzees for future generations. I spent one peaceful hour following the chimpanzees alongside the Gombe researchers who recorded their vocalisations and interactions. I will never forget how connected I felt when I would cross eyes with one of the chimpanzees, or when I heard the “human-like” giggles of the juvenile chimpanzees as they tussled in the leaves. After leaving the chimpanzees to finish their breakfast, I knew I was not just saying goodbye to the famous chimpanzees of Gombe, but also to my relatives, for they truly are, in so many ways, our not too distant kin.”

You can read Kate’s full story on our R&S project page and to play your own part in the special story of our Gombe chimpanzees, please donate to JGIA today.

5. Happy birthday to our incredible founder

On April 3rd, Dr Jane Goodall celebrates her birthday. We hope that you will join us in wishing her a wonderful year ahead. We are particularly looking forward to giving her a belated birthday hug in person in Australia in June, and in New Zealand in July! Each year on her birthday, we are reminded that Dr Jane’s one wish is to ensure the ongoing support of the Jane Goodall Institute globally. You can help make Dr Jane Goodall’s wish come true by generously making a birthday donation. Happy Birthday Dr Jane and see you soon!

Of course don’t forget to buy your tickets today to see Dr Jane Goodall herself in Australia in June 2017. To keep up to date and access special opportunities, become a member of the JGIA family. Of course you can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

1. Climb for Chimps Success!

In case you missed the very exciting news, our JGIA Climb for Chimps team successfully summited Kilimanjaro this month! It was an immense physical and mental challenge for the climbers and though all did not quite reach the peak, in their words the experience left them “tired, but exuberant and elated!” Some fun facts about the climb: they were accompanied by 30 porters, two chefs and three guides; their combined age was 330 years so not the youngest group on the hill, but with the youngest participant by far at age 14!; their final ascent took 21 hours, 3.8 vertical kilometres and more than 100,000 steps to reach the chilly (-20°C) Uhuru Summit at 5895m. Of course it was all for a great cause as they raised more than $32,400 for the Jane Goodall Institute Australia. Thank you and congratulations to Alex, Laura, Jeff, James, Polly and Mark!

2. Register to Recycle Today

If our first story has inspired you, but you’re not quite up for climbing a snowy peak, how about doing something as simple as recycling your old mobile phones to make a difference and raise money for JGIA? Our mobile phone recycling campaign is now live at schools across the nation. From now until the end of Term 1 all you have to do as a parent, student, teacher or friend, is to register to be part of the program, place a collection box at your school and spread the word. Recycling disused mobile phones and accessories is a great way to raise awareness that our technological gadgets are made up of materials that can be recycled rather than mined from underneath the forests where chimpanzees live. It’s free and easy and a great way to make a difference and reduce our impact on the planet. Our generous partners, Mobile Muster and Phone Cycle, donate funds to JGIA for each phone collected. As a special incentive, the school that collects the most phones during the 2017 Term 1 campaign will get a personalised video from Dr Jane herself! For more information, contact us on recycle@janegoodall.org.au or find out more on our JGIA or R&S websites.

3. 40th Anniversary of JGI

This year, the Jane Goodall Institute celebrates our 40th anniversary as a global organisation! From its humble beginnings as an idea back in Gombe in 1977, to establishment of the first office in the United States, we could never have imagined we would grow to 35 global offices with Roots & Shoots in almost 100 countries. Now, as we were then, we are powered by science and hope and believe that wisdom, leadership and collaboration can show us how to coexist peacefully with nature and each other. For 40 years, JGI has led the environmental movement with brilliant solutions to some of the most pressing issues of our time. With support from individuals like you, we will continue to be a leader in conservation, education, and research for the next 40 years as we realise Dr. Jane Goodall’s legacy of hope for a better, greener tomorrow and beyond. To be a part of the movement and show your support, please donate today or simply join our thunderclap to wish us a happy birthday!

4. Melbourne Sustainable Living Festival

We were very pleased to participate in the Sustainable Living Festival’s Green Market held in Melbourne this month. JGIA co-founder Alicia, Roots & Shoots Victoria Coordinator Mel and National Youth Leadership Council (NYLC) member Asitha had a wonderful time talking to visitors about Roots & Shoots, our palm oil campaign and video and of course Dr. Jane’s upcoming visit to Australia. We would like to thank everyone who visited our stall, including those who are already doing amazing things to create a positive change for animals, people and the environment. We look forward to seeing several familiar faces at our future events! To keep up to date with R&S and the NYLC, follow our Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter pages.

5. Win Free Transitions Film Festival Tickets

JGIA is pleased to share that the Transitions Film Festival is coming to Sydney and Brisbane in March with an inspirational line up of world-changing films. To celebrate, we have a double pass to give away to A Plastic Ocean, screening Saturday 11 March at 1:30pm at Zenith Theatre, Chatswood and Saturday 25 March at 7:00pm at New Farm Cinemas, Brisbane. Described by Sir David Attenborough as “one of the most important films of our time”, A Plastic Ocean is an exploration of the devastating impacts plastic is having on our oceans and our health and what we can do about it, before it is too late. For your chance to win, head to the Transitions Film Festival ‘win’ page and enter the code SAPLASTICGOODALL (for Sydney) and BAPLASTICGOODALL (for Brisbane). Good luck and check out the full festival program, including H.O.P.E – What you eat Matters featuring our very own Dr Jane Goodall, via the website.

Last but certainly not least, don’t forget to buy your tickets today to see Dr Jane Goodall herself in Australia in June 2017. To keep up to date and access special opportunities, become a member of the JGIA family. Of course you can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

1. 2017 Brings Hope and Dr Jane

As we close the chapter on 2016 and usher in the start of an exciting new year, we want to take the time to say thank you again to our amazing supporters and JGIA family. We are very much looking forward to a wonderful year ahead and hope that you will join us on our journey.

Indeed Dr Jane Goodall herself will be joining us in Australia and New Zealand in June 2017! Don’t miss out on this incredible opportunity to hear first-hand the amazing stories of her chimpanzee family and inspiring messages of hope and peace. Buy your tickets today to Dr Jane’s live events in Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney and to keep up to date on all activities and special opportunities, become a member of the JGIA family.

By becoming a member, you will be helping us continue our work protecting chimpanzees and forests, while growing the number of young people who are making our world more sustainable.  Of course you can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Thank you again and we can’t wait to see you in 2017!

2. Your Phone Call… to Action

Have you ever wondered what your phone is made of or how the materials were collected? There may be more to that story than you think. Our technological gadgets are made up of materials such as gold, tin, tungsten and tantalum (coltan), many of which are sourced from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The DRC is also home to the largest intact populations of chimpanzees, located in the Congo Basin.

The human and environmental costs of extracting these materials are staggering. Trees must be cut down, thereby fragmenting the forest, destroying chimpanzee habitat and jeopardising the health of local communities. In addition to damaging the environment, conflict materials have also been cited as the driving force for the continuing war in the DRC.

On January 24th, JGI offices around the world launched a Call to Action to recycle our mobile phones and halt the mining of new materials. International Mobile Recycling Day, now in its third year, is an urgent cause to raise awareness and reduce our impact. Join JGIA throughout Term 1 in our mobile phone recycling drive by registering for a free collection box for phones at your school or business. In addition to reducing demand, our generous partners, Mobile Muster and Phone Cycle, donate funds to JGIA for each phone collected. For more information, contact us on recycle@janegoodall.org.au or find out more on our JGIA or R&S websites.

3. Applications Open for the NYLC

Are you ready to lead a movement of young people creating a better world for people, animals and the environment? We are looking for young Australian leaders aged 16-23 to join our National Youth Leadership Council (NYLC). Our NYLC is made up of a passionate group of young people from around Australia who are dedicated to making positive change. Members of the NYLC are the youth voice of Roots & Shoots Australia and work hard to support the organization’s success. NYLC members are provided with fun and comprehensive training and opportunities to mentor R&S members and represent R&S at events. Members gain access to influential leaders and networks that will help them grow their leadership capabilities. Find out more and apply before midnight on Sunday 5^th February. You can also keep up to date with our NYLC on our Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter pages.

4. Positivity despite Politics

For many of us, the start of 2017 has brought uncertainty with global political changes. Dr Jane Goodall wrote a special blog post on the topic “I am writing today to call on each of you, my friends and colleagues, to maintain hope, whilst being prepared to work even harder to do what is right for people, other animals and planet Earth. And be prepared to stand up and speak out for our beliefs. For if we lose hope we shall sink into apathy – then all will be lost. We all have a choice as to what sort of difference we make. And so, if we all come together with determination and increased solidarity, we can surely find ways to carry on with our work no matter what happens. I have absolute faith in the indomitable human spirit.”

5. Tchimpounga Caregiver Highlight

Hugues Boungou has a wide, gentle smile that divulges his caregiving philosophy before he even begins to interact with his patients. Hugues, a veterinary assistant at JGI’s Tchimpounga Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Centre in the Republic of Congo, believes in the importance of treating each primate with care and respect, to create the trust and cooperation that he needs to be effective in his work. He says his favourite part of his job is helping to save the lives of chimpanzees. Hugues began his career as a nurse, looking after human patients. His natural skill with primates allowed him to adapt quickly to veterinary work and to develop new skills, like operating x-ray equipment and microscopes. JGI, and the many chimpanzees who enjoy Hugues’ excellent care are grateful that he made the decision to work as a veterinary assistant. To support Hugues and his chimpanzee friends, become a Chimp Guardian today.

6. CEO Channels Chimp for the Cause

Our CEO, Nancy Moloney, had some fun hanging around and completing her Edge Pledge just before the holidays. To raise funds for chimpanzees at JGI’s Tchimpounga Sanctuary, Nancy put herself on the edge by asking supporters to vote for her to eat 20 bananas in one sitting, end every phone call for an entire day with a pant hoot (chimp call) or complete a ropes course in a chimpanzee onesie. The onesie challenge won and despite a 38 degree day, Nancy clambered through the ropes course with a  smile on her face, enjoying every minute being one of our closest relatives. To join Nancy, sign up for your own fun Edge Pledge and watch this space for future JGIA Edge Pledges.