Jane Goodall, the internationally renowned primatologist and conservationist, was at Mumbai, India, last month on her “Hope Tour”. She is the Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute, a Dame of the British Empire and a UN Messenger of Peace. At 90, the indefatigable Goodall has been travelling to spread the message of conservation, hope and the importance of individual action. At Mumbai, some members of the Mongabay India team had the pleasure of meeting her for a short conversation.

Goodall has been a long-time well-wisher of Mongabay, and begins the interview with talking about the importance of facts and high quality journalism. She touches upon how similar people are, across the world. During the first part of her career studying the behaviour of chimpanzees in the forests of Gombe in Tanzania, she was one of the instrumental figures who changed the way humans perceive non-human animals. When realising at an Africa-wide conference on chimpanzees that animal habitats were getting irreversibly destroyed, she launched into the international arena as a champion for biodiversity and conservation across the world. One moving insight she had was on the importance of women as custodians of biodiversity.

Goodall ended the conversation on a message of hope, where she stressed the importance of individual action. She also highlights her Roots & Shoots programme, emphasising the importance of engaging young people in conservation.