As Jane Goodall, renowned scientist and advocate of peace with the natural world, unleashed a sense of hope for the environment as she spoke at Griffith Park on Sunday.Even with the current war and talk about a destroyed environment hanging over society, Goodall continues to fight for and believe in a world where all humans and other species can live in harmony.
The annual United Nations International Peace Day allows people to come together and embrace possibility of peace between all life forms. The powerful impact of this event attracts students and faculty from PCC as well as countless other individuals.
“Peace day is an attempt to promote something that is too-often forgotten in today’s world- maintaining peace and harmony between humans and all living species,” said Derek Milne, instructor in the social sciences. “It encourages us to question the culture of war that has become so familiar that we hardly even notice it, it is environmental in its emphasis on how we relate to all living things.”
Though she began as a scientist working primarily with chimpanzees, Goodall’s work has come to influence and affect people of all ages. Throughout the event, adults and children as young as six covered the green fields of Griffith Park.
“Jane Goodall has done a wonderful thing with her life. She began as a scientist researching primates and made many important discoveries about chimpanzees. These things made her famous and now she uses her fame to save endangered species and the environment,” said Milne.
Even with the war and diminishing habitats of wild animals, Goodall delved into the reasons of why she refused to give up hope. She said people are finally realizing that we are taking more than our share of the natural world and are attempting to come up with new technologies that will enable people to be green. It is this realization as well as young individuals who care that makes her want to travel and spread her words of hope.
“Roots and Shoots [a program from the Jane Goodall Institute] is changing the world. It is breaking barriers,” she said.
Before Goodall arrived the evidence of people coming together and accepting each other rang clear throughout the park as children from the International Peace Choir sang songs of international and cultural acceptance.
“Peace doesn’t mean just laying down our guns. [It is important] to live in peace and harmony with the natural world,” said Goodall.
Introduced as the “Mother Teresa of the Earth,” Goodall’s work continues to be admired by people from all over the world, including students and faculty from PCC.
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