Is there hope? It’s the topic at the heart of Dr Jane Goodall’s current speaking tour, which had its Auckland date last night, and saw her address a local crowd looking to learn from the respected conservationist. Emma Gleason was in the audience to hear what she had to say. Jane Goodall knows how to deliver a message; she’s become a master of it, fostering a global community of fans and inspiring people to take action.
Judging by the audience at her Auckland event last night, that message spans generations; children clutched plush chimpanzees, while other attendees look to be the right age to have witnessed her earlier forays into the public realm in the 1960s as a primatologist. These days of course, she’s world-famous, and at 90 is still working; currently on her Reasons For Hope tour . “I feel so welcomed in New Zealand,” Dr Jane Goodall tells the nearly full house at SkyCity Theatre.
“I wish I was staying longer.” She was last here five years ago, and this latest visit comes days after thousands of Kiwis filled nearby Queen St on Saturday during the March for Nature protest , which challenged the coalition Government’s contentious Fast-Track Approvals Bill, which speeds up the consent process for major infrastructure projects . She sees “immense hope” in Kiwis, particularly the young generation.
Goodall, who is a United Nations Messenger of Peace, rose to global acclaim during the 1960s for her primatology work with the chimpanzees of Gombe Stream N.