Dialogue with Dr Jane Goodall: Symposium on Human Dimension on Wildlife Conservation and Education for Sustainability
Dialogue with Dr Jane Goodall: Symposium on Human Dimension on Wildlife Conservation and Education for Sustainability
Internationally renowned conservationist Dr Jane Goodall, United Nations Messenger of Peace and one of the world's foremost experts on chimpanzees, delivered a keynote speech on wildlife conservation and education for sustainability at The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK) today (10 November).
The talk was well-attended by different sectors of the community, including government officials, NGOs, environmentalists, social innovators and academics specialising in the field, as well as EdUHK staff and students.
Officiating at the event were Professor Woo Chi-keung, Acting Dean of the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences of EdUHK; and Mr Simon Chan Kin-fung, Assistant Director (Conversation) of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department of the Hong Kong SAR.
In his opening remarks, Professor Woo Chi-keung said, “It is my great honour to welcome Dr Jane Goodall to EdUHK. As we all know, Hong Kong consumes vast amounts of natural resources. Only through changing our consumption patterns can we mitigate damaging environmental changes, and education is the key strategy for achieving this. I hope Dr Goodall’s insights will inspire all of us to take positive action to achieve sustainability in our personal lives and in our community, thus playing our part to bring about change on a global scale.”
In addition to the enlightening keynote address by Dr Goodall, there were four mini symposia to share ways in which conservation can be achieved: 1) Creative Community Engagement for a Sustainable Future, 2) Unleashing Energy for Environment Betterment through Education, 3) Investing in a Sustainable Future, and 4) Visiting the Home of Wildlife: Ecotourism.
At the age of 26, Dr Jane Goodall hid among the robust greenery in the lush rainforest of Gombe, Tanzania, and observed something no one else had ever recorded – a chimpanzee, she named David Greybeard, used long stalks of grass as a tool to catch and eat ants from an ant mound. Her story was turned into a documentary by National Geographic Studios in 2017. Committed to conservation, community engagement and education, Dr Goodall established a non-governmental organisation, called the Jane Goodall Institute, to promote wildlife conservation worldwide.
Dr Jane Goodall changed public perceptions of primates and people, and the connection between the two. Over the past six decades, she has evolved from a steadfast scientist to a passionate conservationist and humanitarian, urging the world to take action on behalf of nature.
