VIENNA, 22 April 2024 - In the film, Jane Goodall highlights four pillars of hope: the amazing human intellect, the resilience of nature, the power and dedication of young people, and the indomitable human spirit. These pillars of hope are shown with examples from across the world such as the human-led migration of the Northern Bald Ibis across the Alps or the reintroduction of the American Bison. Furthermore, the film emphasizes the importance of the efforts and engagement of children and young people through the Roots & Shoots programme, initiated by Jane Goodall.
After the screening, an insightful discussion on Jane Goodall’s work, biodiversity and wildlife conservation took place. Johannes Fritz, Biologist, Conservationist and Project Manager of LIFE Northern Bald Ibis, run in cooperation with the Vienna Zoo, shared positive results of the project: “The population of the Northern Bald Ibis is growing thanks to good reproductive numbers.” Also, the species is “close to self-sustainability” but he highlighted that in addition to threats such as hunting and electrocution, climate change is representing a more and more pressing issue for the birds.
Maarten Hofman, Associate Programme Management Officer, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), said: “The examples shown in the film highlight what can be done, but there are so many more positive examples that people are not aware of. Around the world there are thousands of grassroots projects trying to contribute.” Furthermore, he highlighted that biodiversity goes hand in hand with other topics such as pollution, waste and climate change.
Richard Cornford, research scholar of the Biodiversity, Ecology, and Conservation Research Group, at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), spoke about main drivers of decline and that “land use change is having the biggest impact in terms of species losses and population declines.” He emphasized how challenging it is to protect critically endangered species and that it is impressive to bring back species that were on the brink of extinction.
Diana Leizinger, Co-Executive Director of the Jane Goodall Institute Austria, talked about how the work of all these Institutes around the world “help to spread Jane’s vision to reach people and implement projects”. She also mentioned the work of the Austrian institute in Uganda as well as the engagement with young children by offering educational material and skills as well as supporting young people to get active in their local communities.
