Alice Macharia: Hope Is Communities Leading Conservation for the Good of All

12/07/21 • 36 min

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In this episode of the Hopecast, Dr. Jane Goodall speaks with Alice Macharia, the vice president of JGI USA’s Africa Programs. Alice joined the Jane Goodall Institute in 2004 as a project coordinator for East Africa Programs, and has since served as both JGI USA’s Africa Programs Director and now Vice President. Alice’s investment in supporting and working with people to increase beneficial conservation and sustainable development outcomes has created generations of positive growth for people, wildlife, and ecosystems across vital program areas. In this conversation, Jane and Alice talk about the evolution and success they’ve both seen through the use of JGI’s innovative ‘Tacare’ community-led conservation approach. Though this is something now “buzzy” in the NGO landscape, Jane began this effort nearly 30 years ago when she realized that protection of endangered chimpanzees around Gombe would fail without the partnership of local people who were struggling with poverty and inequities. The resulting approach tackles conservation threats by using advanced science, training, and funding to collaborate with communities and understand their needs. These efforts facilitate solutions like land-use planning, forest restoration and protection, sustainable livelihoods, healthcare, education, and more. This adaptive and unique approach is now being scaled in new and wonderful ways in countries across the chimpanzee range including Uganda, DRC, Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Mali, Burundi, Cameroon, Gabon, Guinea, Liberia, and Tanzania - where it all began. Alice also discusses her passion for empowering young women and girls - central to JGI’s work - and how it’s delivering on making their aspirations more attainable every day through scholarships, training, and more. Jane and Alice explain that the interconnectedness of individuals, communities, and ecosystems must be considered and addressed in order to create a harmonious path forward for all. As they share, this holistic mindfulness of community-led conservation, “enables people to take control of their environment, of their lives.”

At the End of the Rainbow: Stay to the end of the episode to hear an archival clip of Dr. Goodall speak about the urgency of acting together to fight climate change and how JGI’s community-led Tacare program has strengthened the resilience of both the environment and the indomitable human spirit.

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Dr. Evan Antin: Hope is Following Your Heart and Giving Back to Animals

In this episode of the Hopecast, Dr. Jane Goodall is joined by Dr. Evan Antin, an exotic animal and wildlife veterinarian at Conejo Valley Vet Hospital and animal advocate. His passion for animals and educational posts have amassed him over 1 million followers on Instagram. He also works with the Jane Goodall Institute to raise awareness around the need to stop harmful animal selfies on social media, through JGI’s ForeverWild campaign. Growing up in Kansas, he was always fascinated with wildlife and the local ecosystems that existed in the creek in his backyard. Jane and Evan discuss how their inexplicable immediate love for animals as children impacted their chosen paths in life and their dedication to educating people to protect them, as individuals and as species. Dr. Antin speaks about how inspired he is by Dr. Goodall’s new book, The Book of Hope, and how the messages in the book are exactly what the world needs right now. Evan asks Jane about what she has learned from spending so much time alone in nature and Jane shares her spiritual belief that there is “intelligence behind the universe.” Together, they discuss what they’ve learned from their time spent with wild and domesticated animals and how it has changed their outlook on the world. Jane describes how she sees her role in life and in her lifelong career, a sentiment shared by Dr. Antin: “A naturalist is driven by awe and wonder and a deep desire to find out the truth.”

At the End of the Rainbow: Stay to the end of the episode to hear an archival clip of Dr. Jane Goodall speaking about how much the scientific community can learn from observing the interactions, emotions, and resourcefulness of chimpanzees in the wild.

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undefined - Mailbag: From Philadelphia to New Zealand, Jane Answers Hopecaster Messages About How They Can Use Their Voices to Create a Better Future

Mailbag: From Philadelphia to New Zealand, Jane Answers Hopecaster Messages About How They Can Use Their Voices to Create a Better Future

In this episode of the Hopecast, Dr. Goodall is joined by Ashley Sullivan, Associate Director of Communications & Policy at the Jane Goodall Institute USA, as they hear from Hopecasters from around the world. Jane and Ashley listen to energizing messages about how Jane’s lifetime of work has inspired Hopecasters to work hard for their own communities and continue in her footsteps. Nina from Philadelphia shares a tearful message of gratitude, thanking Jane for inspiring her so profoundly and motivating her to lead a life of impact. Animal nutrition and wildlife conservation student Nevan, living in Florida, writes in to ask Dr. Goodall’s advice on organizing his own conservation foundation, looking at the immense success and impact of the Jane Goodall Institute. 16-year-old Roots & Shoots member, Alicia, also writes in from New Zealand to share what brings her her greatest hope: animals. Alicia speaks to animals’ “special talent” of bringing people together and how she believes they are what’s going to get us through these dark times. This is a belief also held by Jane, who talks about how people have been connecting to other animals, especially their pets for their love and companionship, during the pandemic. Ashley points out the poignancy of how prevalent the theme of non-human animals was to this particular mailbag as it was Jane’s stories about chimpanzees and her own connection to other animals that inspires generations to take action and also, most essentially, hold onto hope.

Hey Hopecasters! Submit your own questions and comments for a chance to be included in a future Mailbag episode here.