Press Room

SEPTEMBER 2019

The Government’s proposal to close down New Zealand’s elephant ivory market is a move welcomed by the Jane Goodall Institute New Zealand (JGI NZ). Thousands of elephants are slaughtered each year for their tusks. In response to the crisis many countries including the UK, China, US, France, the Netherlands, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, Belgium and Israel have either closed or are preparing to close their domestic ivory trades.

A recent 10-month survey indicates that domestic ivory trade has doubled in size since the first ever study in 2016.

JGINZ is encouraging all New Zealanders to make a submission in support of Government’s proposal to ban the domestic trade and importation of elephant ivory. A ready to send submission is available on the JGINZ website. Submissions close 5pm on 25th October.

Read the full press release here.

SEPTEMBER 2019

Dr Jane Goodall joins young New Zealand climate campaigners and Roots & Shoots changemakers to provide their perspective on claim change and the action they are taking.

We all make a difference. What difference will you make?

For more on climate change and steps you can take: http://www.janegoodall.org.nz/jgi-nz-campaigns/climate-change/

For changemakers - Put hope in action with Roots & Shoots: http://www.janegoodall.org.nz/roots-shoots/

#ClimateChange #ss4cnz #GenLess #NotBusinessAsUsual #HopeInAction

MAY 2019

World-renowned conservationist Dr Jane Goodall has joined a coalition of Aotearoa's leading environmental organisations to release an ambitious plan for reversing New Zealand’s environmental crisis.

“But it will take urgent, collaborative action from all sectors of society to see the plan succeed,” Dr Goodall warns.

The Aotearoa Deal for Nature was developed by the Jane Goodall Institute New Zealand, Forest & Bird, WWF NZ, Greenpeace NZ, the Environmental Defence Society, Environment and Conservation Organisations of Aotearoa (ECO), and has been endorsed and signed by Dr Goodall.

The Aotearoa Deal for Nature is an unprecedented agreement on minimum priorities and actions for protecting and restoring New Zealand’s imperilled wildlife and environment.

Read the full press release here.

Read the Aotearoa Deal for Nature here.

MARCH 2019

The Jane Goodall Institute New Zealand is lending its support to young New Zealanders taking part in the upcoming ‘School Strike 4 Climate’ event on March 15, sending a message to politicians to take urgent action to the climate change crisis.

Dr. Jane Goodall urges Roots & Shoots youth and all environmental stewards to participate in the global day of action in the School Strike 4 Climate.

“People who were apathetic before, who didn’t seem to care, now suddenly it’s like they’ve heard a trumpet call — ‘What can we do? We have to do something.’ We will prevail — somehow. Think of all the marches and demonstrations, people really have woken up. It is the hope I think.” - Dr. Jane Goodall

Read the press release here

FEBRUARY 2019

Dr. Goodall and the Jane Goodall Institute take a stand against tech waste with mobile recycling campaign - 'The Forest Is Calling' - To protect chimps, humans and forests.

“Sometimes people don’t understand how terribly, terribly important it is to recycle old cell phones. There are hundreds of thousands of old cell phones lying around, they have coltan In them...It’s leading to the destruction of the rainforest, the death of gorillas and chimpanzees, and other animals and immense hardship for the people.” - Dr. Jane Goodall

Read the press release here

JANUARY 2019

Dr. Goodall and JGINZ CEO & Co-Founder Dr. Melanie Vivian have put their signatures to an open letter urging the Government to ban "the cruelest aspects of rodeo" in New Zealand. 

“The least I can do is speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves.” - Dr. Jane Goodall

Read the open letter to the government on rodeo in New Zealand.

JANUARY 2019

Davos, Switzerland. Jane Goodall, PhD, DBE, Founder of The Jane Goodall Institute and United Nations Messenger of Peace, launches the Jane Goodall Legacy Foundation. For nearly 60 years, Dr. Goodall has been a pioneer in the understanding of animals and the environment. She has worked tirelessly to raise awareness of the harm we are inflicting on the natural world and provide solutions for protecting wildlife and its habitats, particularly forests, alleviating poverty so that local communities become partners in conservation, tackling climate change, and educating and empowering young people to become better stewards than we have been. The purpose of the Jane Goodall Legacy Foundation is to ensure that Dr. Goodall’s lifetimes work and values continue in perpetuity for the benefit of future generations.

“What will it be like for our children in years to come if we continue with business as usual?” asks Dr. Goodall. “The Jane Goodall Institutes have made significant contributions in the fields of research, conservation and education, but there is so much more to do.” - Dr. Jane Goodall

Read the press release here.

OCTOBER 2018

This World Animal Day, the Jane Goodall Institute New Zealand (JGINZ) has brought together an assembly of prominent organisations with their sights set on an industry which is threatening to cause the extinction of two of the world’s most iconic animals, and the need for New Zealand to be part of the global response.

JGINZ is campaigning for an end to New Zealand’s domestic trade in elephant ivory and rhinoceros horn, and will celebrate World Animal Day by delivering a letter to parliament co-signed by Dr. Jane Goodall, former Prime Minister, UNDP Administrator and JGINZ patron, Rt. Hon. Helen Clark, and more than forty national and international institutions, asking the New Zealand government to put the stronger measures in place to ensure New Zealand plays its part to protect these iconic animals.

“One upcoming auction in New Zealand features over 60 items containing ivory and about 35 of these are carved ivory tusks and figures. The catalogue descriptions for the majority of the carved ivory items don’t reference the age, source and history of the item, making the legality of their origin impossible to prove. It’s really not good enough considering the phenomenal effort globally to close domestic ivory markets. Without checks and balances on domestic trading, there is a risk that any ivory that gets into New Zealand illegally can easily be sold on the domestic market and make money for those who would seek to profit from the extinction of these animals”  - Fiona Gordon, Jane Goodall Institute New Zealand Ambassador, and environmental policy analyst.

Read the press release here.

Read the open letter to the New Zealand government, showing strong national and international support for a domestic trade ban, here.

AUGUST 2018

Elephant and rhinoceros are being traded into extinction by a global demand for trinkets, carvings, ornaments and jewellery. The statistics are sobering: One elephant is killed for its ivory every twenty five minutes. One rhino is brutally killed for its horn every eight hours. New Zealand is part of the problem. 

This World Elephant Day the Jane Goodall Institute New Zealand is calling for the end of the domestic trade of elephant ivory and rhino horn and New Zealand’s contribution to the death of thousands of elephants and rhinos each year. Timely given that the theme for World Elephant Day this year is “bringing the world together to help elephants.”

The international trade in elephant ivory was banned in 1989 yet elephant ivory continues to be confiscated at New Zealand’s border and New Zealand's current enforcement is allowing for the laundering of illegal ivory products - Making New Zealand a stark outler in the global action to combat wildlife trade.

“Trade in these items is abhorrent and must stop if elephant and rhino species are to survive. The illicit trade is fuelling corruption and conflict, wreaking lives, and deepening poverty and inequality. Let us be sure as we look back on this time that we know we acted when we could and as much as we could, before it was too late."   - Rt Hon Helen Clark, JGINZ Patron, Former Prime Minister of New Zealand and Former UNDP Administrator

Read the press release here.

AUGUST 2018

The New Zealand government has pledged to rid the country of single-use plastic bags by July next year!

Earlier this year Jane Goodall Institute New Zealand and Greenpeace, gathered the support of organisations, retailers, and local governments, along with JGI Founder, Dr. Jane Goodall, JGIZ Patron and Former Prime Minister of New Zealand and Former UNDP Administrator, Helen Clark and 65,000 Kiwis, in calling for an outright ban of single-use plastic bags. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage have said they were listening.

As Jacinda Ardern said:

"I underestimated the strength of feeling amongst everyday New Zealanders around this issue. One of the groups of people that have helped me realise how much people care about plastics in the environment were children. The biggest issue I get letters on from the public are about plastics and it comes from children. I literally get hundreds and hundreds."

Read more about the announcement and ban here.

JULY 2018

This week, the Gombe Masito Ugalla ecosystem was designated as an official Biosphere Reserve by the United Nations Science and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). Recognising efforts to conserve biodiversity and sustainable development in the area.

These reserves reconcile biodiversity conservation with human activity through the use of sustainable natural resources. This designation is the first international recognition of Gombe since the government of Tanzania gave national park status to what is now Gombe Stream National Park in 1968.

Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute, and United Nations Messenger of Peace remarked about the news saying:

“It is wonderful news. I hope that it will lead to more recognition of a truly unique area that is home to almost all of Tanzania's remaining chimpanzee population as well as for many other animals and their habitats. Hopefully the added recognition of its importance will attract more funding to improve conservation efforts, and to improve the lives of local communities, and thus create new partners in conservation.

Read the full release here.

JULY 2018

The Jane Goodall Institute of New Zealand(JGINZ),alongside wildlife advocates and conservation leaders around the world, is celebratingthe inaugural WorldChimpanzeeDay on Saturday 14 July.

This date has particular significance, as it is the day that Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute, and UN Messenger of Peace, first began her research of the now world famous chimpanzees of Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania.

In honour of humankind’s closest cousin, WorldChimpanzeeDay is a celebration of chimpanzees and an opportunity to raise awareness about the vital need for worldwide participation in their care, protection, and conservation in the wild and in captivity as an endangered species.

Read the full JGINZ media release in celebration of World Chimpanzee Day - read the media release here.

“Together we can ensure that captive chimpanzees have a better life 

Together we can save wild chimpanzees in their forest homes. We must - else our descendants will be so angry that we simply allowed our closest relatives to vanish. 

I do hope you will join us on this day.  Help us raise awareness.  Become a Chimp Guardian.  Make a donation.

Together we can save them.”

- Dr. Jane Goodall

JUNE 2018

Today JGINZ signed an open letter in support of the government’s commitment to get Aotearoa to zero net emissions by 2050. We’re proud to be rising to the challenge alongside over 200 other businesses, community organisations and leaders.

#ZeroCarbonAct. Together, it’s 100% possible.

The open letter was presented to Minister James Shaw - read the open letter here.

Take action with our 1-click campaign on the Zero Carbon Act 

MARCH 2018

In a first, a nationwide ‘Zoofari’ campaign by The Warehouse begins today to enable thousands of children from low-decile schools to receive free conservation-based educational experiences at zoos across New Zealand this year.

Zoofari is an innovative partnership programme co-created by The Warehouse and zoos to provide wildlife experiences to children, partnering with the Jane Goodall Institute of New Zealand (JGINZ). The programme has now been expanded to cover all major zoos and regions across New Zealand.

Shari French, General Manager Community Relations at The Warehouse, says “There’s so much a child can gain from an educational visit to a zoo beyond the enjoyment of seeing animals. They can learn about everything from caring for the environment, recycling and conservation, to the science of animals and nature. It can be an experience that really helps open up the world to a child.”

Zoofari also provides students with the opportunity to participate in Dr Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots programme, which empowers young people to change the future. Roots & Shoots can be adopted by schools to continue student learning in local and global environmental issues.

JGINZ CEO and Co-Founder, Dr Melanie Vivian, says that Zoofari provides a wonderful opportunity for the animal ambassadors to become points of inspiration. “Through our Roots & Shoots programme we empower young people of all ages to undertake action projects. Being present with animals and learning about the ways in which we can all make a difference to their lives and the wellbeing of the planet that we all share is a fabulous way to engage students to make a difference.”

READ THE FULL MEDIA RELEASE

FEBUARY 2018

JGINZ, in partnership with Greenpeace NZ, and with the supported by businesses, councils, non-governmental and community organisations and many thousands of New Zealanders, are asking the New Zealand government to bring in a regulatory ban on single-use plastic bags in New Zealand.

Jane Goodall Institute New Zealand CEO & Co-Founder Dr Melanie Vivian says “There is an urgent need for all to take responsibility for the impacts we are having on our planet and its inhabitants. The consequences of our conveniences are now starkly obvious. To turn the impacts around behaviour change will need to come from us all, governments, businesses, communities and individuals. What we are seeing on the issue of single-use plastic bags that is so heartening is that so many are saying they are committed to making that change. As such we are ready to support the government to make legislative change to ban the bag. Hopefully the first step in many that we can take together to make positive differences for all”.

Midday Tuesday the 27th JGINZ and Greenpeace and supporters will handover a letter of request and a petition with 65,000 signatures, all calling for a ban on single-use bags in New Zealand.

READ THE FULL MEDIA RELEASE

FEBUARY 2018

Right Honourable Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of New Zealand and former UNDP Administrator, has been appointed patron for the Jane Goodall Institute New Zealand.

 Helen Clark said she was honoured. “I have long had huge admiration for Jane Goodall and her work. We both share an appreciation for the interconnectedness of issues affecting animals, people, and the environment.”

JGINZ CEO and Co-Founder, Dr Melanie Vivian said: “It is an honour to welcome Helen Clark as our inaugural patron. We are greatly looking forward to working together to bring attention to some of the most important issues facing people, animals, and our shared environments at this critical time, and the actions that can be taken to make a difference”. 

JGINZ is thrilled, and already enjoying Helen’s input and support

READ THE FULL MEDIA RELEASE