Redlands, Calif.—July 8, 2019—Esri, the global leader in location intelligence, today announced a partnership with the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) to develop a set of tools that will help communities map and manage the ecosystems around them through a collaborative design and planning approach, aided by GIS software. These tools will help communities map, monitor, and better manage their natural resources from community forests and wildlife reserves, to water catchment and flood control areas, as well as human settlement, agriculture, and agroforestry spaces.
Started as a project around Gombe National Park in Tanzania in 1994 where Dr. Goodall led her pioneering research on the wild chimpanzees there, the Jane Goodall Institute’s community-centered conservation approach called Tacare partners local communities and governments to create sustainable livelihoods while planning for and advancing environmental protection. Incompatible expansion of agriculture, human settlements and harvesting of forest products, as well as disease, wildlife trafficking and the illegal bushmeat trade are the primary threats that have led to the endangered status of chimpanzees across their range in Africa.
“A key component of our success is that we work to help villagers find ways to make livelihoods that do not destroy the environment, and help them understand that protecting the environment not only conserves wildlife, but their own future,” said Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute & UN Messenger of Peace.
JGI’s Tacare approach achieves conservation results and addresses these threats by first consulting communities about their needs and priorities, and working together to collaboratively plan for and implement land use practices that enable their own development, while also contributing to conservation. JGI uses Esri’s ArcGIS platform and Survey123 mobile app to help communities and governments in western Tanzania, Uganda, and other countries in Africa to plan, monitor, and protect chimpanzee populations in local protected forests outside designated national parks.
“Conservation at the community level is essential to sustaining our natural world,” said Jack Dangermond, Esri founder and president. “Protecting global ecosystems cannot work on a global scale unless it starts locally, which is why we are honored to work with our friend and partner, the Jane Goodall Institute, on this collaboration, leveraging their years of experience working at the local scale in pursuit of conservation, balanced with the needs of human communities.”
“We adopt and put in the hands of local communities the best available technologies and tools relevant to support conservation in practice,” continued Dr. Goodall. “The geospatial technologies that Esri provides will enable us to scale up our projects so that we cover hundreds of villages, ensuring that information is actionable and relevant to decision-makers to help design and manage landscapes that better support people’s livelihoods, as well as wildlife.”
Jane Goodall will join Jack Dangermond along with fellow renowned conservationist E.O. Wilson for a discussion at the opening keynote of the 39th Annual Esri User Conference in San Diego, California. They will talk about what they have learned over their legendary careers helping to protect species and ecosystems, as well as the role geospatial technology plays in the future of global biodiversity.
To learn more about the Esri User Conference, visit esriurl.com/PR2019 and to learn more about the Jane Goodall Institute, visitjanegoodall.org.
About Esri
Esri, the global market leader in geographic information system (GIS) software, location intelligence, and mapping, offers the most powerful geospatial cloud available, to help customers unlock the full potential of data to improve operational and business results. Founded in 1969, Esri software is deployed in more than 350,000 organizations including 90 of the Fortune 100 companies, all 50 state governments, more than half of all counties (large and small), and 87 of the Forbes Top 100 Colleges in the U.S., as well as all 15 Executive Departments of the U.S. Government and dozens of independent agencies. With its pioneering commitment to geospatial information technology, Esri engineers the most advanced solutions for digital transformation, the Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics. Visit us at esri.com.
About the Jane Goodall Institute
The Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) is a global, community-centered conservation organization founded in 1977 that advances the vision and work of Dr. Jane Goodall in over 30 countries around the world. We aim to understand and protect chimpanzees, other apes and their habitats, and to empower people to be compassionate citizens in order to inspire conservation of the natural world we all share. JGI uses research, collaboration with local communities, best-in-class animal welfare standards, and the innovative use of science and technology to inspire hope and transform it into action for the common good. Through our Roots & Shoots program for young people of all ages, now active in over 50 countries around the world, JGI is creating an informed and compassionate critical mass of people who will help to create a better world for people, other animals and our shared environment. Visit us at janegoodall.org