Dr Jane Goodall is known across the globe as the world’s leading primatologist and a prominent environmentalist.
When she was 26 years old, Goodall travelled from England to Tanzania, to explore the little known world of wild chimpanzees. There, she discovered how much humans have in common with their primate cousins, and how their habitat had to be protected to ensure the survival of the species.
In February 2019, Goodall, now 84, joined her international youth group Roots and Shoots to plant trees in Moshi, Tanzania at the base of Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain.
The area that surrounds the mountain is already exhibiting the harsh effects of climate change partly due to large-scale deforestation in the region, which Goodall’s organisation aims to address.
The expedition, a partnership with adventure travel group The Explorer’s Passage (TEP) and polar conservation foundation 2041 ClimateForce, invited participants to join the trek to raise proceeds to fund large tree-planting projects by the Roots and Shoots chapter in Tanzania.
TEP’s group of 19 explorers planted 2,041 trees, the last 41 of which were planted alongside Goodall. The number “41” represents TEP’s partnership with British environmentalist and explorer Robert Swan and his 2041 Foundation, which is dedicated to the preservation of Antarctica.
After the tree-planting activity, the explorers trekked to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro.
