Strategy: Healthy Habitats

We work with local communities and governmental and organizational partners to develop and implement conservation action plans for key chimpanzee habitat to support the genetic and cultural diversity of chimpanzees in the wild.

Growing a World of Protected and Thriving Habitats

As human populations rise and forests fall, great ape populations become fragmented and isolated from one another, decreasing genetic diversity and the odds of long-term survival of each community. As human communities grow unsustainably, they put the future of natural habitats at risk.

the Jane Goodall Institute believes that the best way to protect healthy habitats is to focus on actions that not only protect endangered animals and their habitats, but also benefit the local people whose lives depend on a healthy environment.

Strong Roots of Community-Centered Conservation Keep the Forest Alive 

This balance of effort is essential to stabilizing the chimpanzee population. JGI operates at the landscape scale, focusing on protecting vital corridors by weaving together a network of community reserves and national protected areas that connect communities of chimpanzees, improving genetic viability of the species across its entire range. We emphasize local participation in conservation planning and monitoring, leverage mobile mapping technologies to provide communities with accurate information for conservation planning and management, and always strive to include local culture and community needs in our conservation approach.

Delivering results through this integrated approach builds awareness that everything is connected, and that supporting these larger, living systems can both achieve conservation goals and improve the livelihoods of local communities. By empowering local people to make a difference in their own communities, we create networks of concerned individuals who make durable change in their own communities.

Photo credits on this page (left to right, top to bottom): JGI/Shawn Sweeney, JGI/Lilian Pintea, Esri