Jane Goodall: Awakening a sense of wonder

World famous conservationist Dr. Jane Goodall visited Wellington last October. Goodall is best known for her study of chimpanzee social and family life. She is an accomplished speaker, you can watch her latest September 2008 TED talk here. As an environmentalist and humanitarian Dr. Jane Goodall has a firm belief that young people, when informed and empowered, can indeed change the world. She believes it is essential that parents and other mentors of children guide them to make meaningful connections with the natural world. To help accomplish this, she founded Roots & Shoots in 1991, an international environmental and humanitarian programme for youth of all ages. With tens of thousands of young people in almost 100 countries, the Roots & Shoots network connects youth of all ages who share a desire to create a better world.

Recently I came across this video, shot in 1997. In it Jane Goodall expresses the importance of enabling children to form a close relationship with nature, joined by several other environmentalists. If you have 26 minutes to spare it is certainly worth watching.



While the video was shot more then ten years ago, the concerns expressed then are very real today. The increased urbanisation and increased population around the world has strained the relationship between children and the natural world, says Goodall:"I find it terrible sad because I believe children are losing their childhood".

In the video Goodall expresses her thought that more and more people are aware of the fact that children do need to get closer to nature, but most schools and places do not take this into account. She is also terrified of what the internet is going to be, what it is going to do, with children watching more and more tv and playing more and more video games. More then ever our children do need help to reconnect with nature.

I enjoy the holidays, time seems to be irrelevant. Yesterday, after a hot sunny day, it had started raining in the evening and we admired a beautiful rainbow just before sunset. After finishing of some work and some reading I went into our spa pool, at a time the family and the neighborhood were already fast asleep. There was a silence I don't often hear. The rain had now stopped and nature seemed to be asleep. There was no hedgehog fossicking through the bushes, no insect chirping for a mate, no breeze rustling the leaves. The only sound was the occasionally raindrop falling from a leaf onto the earth and a morepork calling in the far distance. The stars twinkling above, the silence all around and the smell of the wet earth, created the perfect setting for some introspection about the year gone and contemplation about the year coming. This is the time of year we sit back, and think about where life is taking us, or where we are taking life, depending on how you view your life. Many of us will use this time to cast our minds forward into the new year and make resolutions.

I hope that nature and children will feature in your thoughts. Our children need us to take them outside, to put them in touch with nature, to let them play free. Let's go outside in the new year. While in 1997 there were Roots & Shoots groups in 29 countries, in 2008, there are well over 8,000 Roots & Shoots youth groups in almost 100 countries. In New Zealand there are currently Roots and Shoots groups in Auckland, Christchurch and Lower Hutt. Why not green your child and start a Roots and Shoots group in your area this new year?

Links:

• Children and Nature: Awakening a sense of wonder, with Jane Goodall, 1997
• TED talk: Helping humans and animals live together in Africa, by Jane Goodall, 2008