CHEN TING HSIEH

2/1/2023

https://www.ted.com/talks/jane_goodall_how_humans_and_animals_can_live_together

How humans and animals can live together

Summary:

Jane Goodal the world’s foremost expert on chimpanzees was inspired by a

paleontologist called Louis Leakey who had been searching for the fossilized remains

of early humans in Africa. From the fossils of early humans and the way they lived,

we found their behavior patterns are similar to great apes and Chimpanzees. The

study of Chimpanzees by Jane began in 1960 have helped us to understand there is

no sharp line between humans and the rest of the animal kingdom. And it make us to

realize we are part of the animals with whom we share the planet. But in Africa

Chimpanzees are losing their habitats, caused by people living around the tiny

national park who are struggling to survive. More people are living there than the

land could possibly support. The numbers of refugees pouring in from Burundi and

over the lake from Congo. This led a program by Jane call TACARE. It’s a very holistic

way of improving the villagers lives by helping them obtain water, education and

providing them opportunities for micro credit loans. TACARE included tree nurseries,

methods of farming most suitable way to this now very degraded almost desert like

land up in these mountains and ways of reclaiming overused farmland. As the time

went on, and their situation began to improve, they began to understand the

importance of conservation. Nowdays, their developing the Greater Gombe

Ecosystem which is an area way outside the national park, stretching out into all

these very degraded lands. As these villagers have a better standard of life, they are

actually agreeing to put 10 percent to 20 percent of their land to let the trees grow

back and the Chimpanzees will have leafy corridors through which they can travel to

interact as they must for genetic viability with other remnant groups outside the

national park. Because of the success of TAKARE, JANE and her partners replicate it in

others parts of Africa. Major decisions which involving millions of dollars made by

developed countries also affect Africa. People who live on the planet are destroying

the only home we have. As Jane began traveling around Africa talking about

Chimpanzees and their vanishing forests, she realized most of the problems of Africa

could be laid at the door of previous colonial exploitation. So she began traveling

outside Africa talking to the whole world then she found out everywhere have

pollution problems. The air we breathe and the food we eat often poison us. The

water is one of the most crucial issues that we’re going to face in this century,

everywhere water is being polluted by agricultural, industrial and household

chemicals that still are being sprayed around the world. All of these pollutions

leading to climate change. And it’s the poor people who are affected worse.

Droughts, flooding the cycle of poverty and hunger and disease are happening all

over the world. We have compromised our young generations’ future. And the

desperation led to the program call Roots and Shoots which began in Tanzania and

has now spread to 97 countries around the world with groups from preschool to

adult. Every groups will choose three different kinds of project to make this a better

world. Their projects will be helping animals, their own community and the

environment.

Vocabulary and Idioms:

1.Conservation: noun, prevention of wasteful use of a resource.

2.Degraded: adjective, the erosion of soil by water, wind, and land-disturbing

processes (including use of certain farming equipment) is a form of physical

degradation.

3.Colonial exploitation: noun, the use of force to control another country for

purposes of exploiting its population as labor and its natural resources as raw

material.

4.Poverty: noun, the state of being extremely poor.

5.Paleontologist: noun, someone who studies fossils as a way of getting information

about the history of life on Earth

Discussion Question:

Do you th ink people nowdays are paying attention to environmental issues?

Why and how?