Jane Goodall denounces the million-dollar business of wildlife trafficking

Within the framework of this conference, the protagonist launched the campaign ‘Forever Wild’ #4EverWild against illegal wildlife trafficking. The goal is to denounce and raise awareness of the fact that these practices are a business that moves between 8.000 and 20.000 millioneuros every year, an amount comparable to that of drug and arms trafficking.

"Jane Goodall wants to raise public awareness, especially amongst young people, of the fact that it is still possible to stop this massive extinction”, remarks programme coordinator of the Jane Goodall Institute of Barcelona, Carme Esquerdo. She adds: “This scientist denounced that animals are not merchandise and gave examples of the capacities of different species such as the chimpanzee, Wounda.”

The campaign is being presented simultaneously in the Institute’s 30 offices around the world. During her visit to Barcelona, Goodall shared her life story, her professional and vital experience, her mission and the work the Institute bearing her name carries out.

In 1986, the renowned scientist left Gombe (Tanzania), where she was researching chimpanzees, to attend a series of conferences in the US. She arrived there as a scientist and left as an activist after discovering how the planet was being destroyed.

So, she decided that not only did she have to protect primates and their habitat, but also to help all animals, the environment and people in order to be able to live in a more sustainable way. She also spoke about her origins, her childhood dreams and about how thankful she was for the support her mother gave her, since she always encouraged her to accomplish them. She explained how she decided to go to Africa, and how she met Professor Louis Leakey and started to study chimpanzees. Nowadays, her protocol is one of the longest and most detailed studies about a wild animal species.

We often hear about the ‘Jane effect’. “Aside from being a passionate and tireless environmental activist, she is a teacher who inspires, especially by means of closeness, in this case the partners, donors and volunteers of the IJGE to do different things, no matter how small, that make a difference and make this world a better place”, remarks Esquerdo.