Jane Goodall interview for Brut

Brut America

Jane Goodall spent her whole life observing and defending wildlife. She's now 84 and hasn't stopped fighting to save the planet. Here is her message of hope...

Transcript

00:00Hello to all of you at Brood, and I hope that together we can make the world a better place.

00:08So please join us and do your bit.

00:22The wildlife situation in the world is awful.

00:26Poaching is going on unabated with African elephants and rhinos,

00:31and the pangolins around the world and the tigers in Asia.

00:35And there's trophy hunting where people go and shoot beautiful animals for fun,

00:41and they think the money is going to go for conservation efforts,

00:44but in fact most of it goes into corrupt officials' pockets.

00:49We've been privileged to spend days, weeks, out in the rainforest,

00:56and when you're in the rainforest you get this understanding of how all life forms are interconnected,

01:02and each little species may seem insignificant,

01:06but it has a role to play in this great tapestry of life.

01:11And it's understanding the interconnectedness of all living things,

01:16of all problems, of all peoples, that make one understand how desperately important it is

01:22that we all do our part, whatever we can,

01:25even if it's saving just one little species that's going to be important.

01:34I've got five reasons for hope.

01:37First of all, the young people, once they understand the problems and we empower them to take action,

01:43they are, as we speak, changing the world.

01:46Secondly, the human brain, we have an extraordinary intellect,

01:50and although we haven't used it very wisely,

01:53now people are coming up with ideas to heal some of the harm that we've inflicted,

01:59clean green energy, for example.

02:02Third is the resilience of nature, places that we've destroyed,

02:06give them time and a bit of help sometimes,

02:09and nature will once again restore a habitat,

02:13and animals on the brink of extinction can be given another chance.

02:17Fourth is social media.

02:20For the first time in human history, we can bring people together from all around the world

02:25to raise their voices in protest at climate change, the use of coal, that sort of thing.

02:32And finally, the indomitable human spirit,

02:36the people who tackle what seems impossible and won't give up and so often succeed.

02:42You know, the big problem is that more people are aware of the problems we've created,

02:47but they feel helpless, hopeless, and that there's nothing they can do,

02:51so they give up, lose hope.

02:54I want to tell people every single one of us is important,

02:58every single one of us has a role to play, even if we don't quite know what it is,

03:03but most important of all, every single one of us makes some impact on the planet every single day,

03:10and we have a choice what sort of difference we're going to make today.

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