In Memoriam: Jane Goodall – Conservation Has Lost One of Its Guiding Lights
The very sad news has just reached us at OceanCare that the world-renowned primatologist and conservationist, Jane Goodall has passed away.
Mark Simmonds, OceanCare Director of Science, reflects on Jane Goodall’s extraordinary impact:
“Jane was deeply revered within the conservation movement for her gentle but compelling manner, her depth of first-hand knowledge, her deep wells of wisdom and her great empathy. She was not just a ground-breaking field worker – opening new windows on chimpanzee society using the power of quiet observation – but also dedicated her whole life and energy to being a champion for primates and, in fact, for all the world’s wildlife.
Our tribe of conservationists and animal defenders has lost its most senior elder, someone who has strongly guided the movement’s moral compass, and her passing will be felt across the whole world.
It will be felt in quiet places – by those out in the field still working, living and learning following her inspiration; it will be felt by small and large conservation organisations alike and all their workers that she inspired; and it will even be felt in the corridors of power where she was increasingly invited to walk and where she was held in awe by many powerful people who recognised her indomitable spirit and the rightness of her thinking.
Her legacy is simply vast. Few working in the spheres of animal conservation, welfare, research and/or advocacy will have been untouched by her words and her life-force.”
OceanCare sends its heartfelt condolences to her close friends and family and to all those within the Jane Goodall Institute. We share your loss, and we will remember her well and continue her battles for a better world for animals.