Now the forests mourn. Not because the trees have fallen, but because a woman who once spoke with the leaves, the rivers, and the eyes of chimpanzees has departed in a silence so profound, it feels sacred.
Who doesn’t know Jane Goodall?
Known as the world’s foremost primatologist, Dr. Jane Goodall was born Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall on April 3, 1934, in London, England. From an early age, she grew up with a deep curiosity and sensitivity to nature and animals. Dr. Goodall says her early fascination with animals began after reading books such as The Story of Dr. Doolittle and Tarzan. She met the renowned primatologist, Professor Louis Leakey, while living on her friend’s farm in Kenya in her mid-twenties.
Dr. Goodall began her career without ever pursuing a conventional academic path. She did so by embarking on a trip to Tanzania at the age of 26 to conduct field studies on wild chimpanzees in Gombe Stream National Park. This step was the starting point for Jane to change her face to that of primatology.
Dr. Goodall became the first person to discover an animal using a tool: a large male chimpanzee, whom she named David Greybeard, digging for termites from a mound with a stick. In Gombe, Dr. Goodall insisted on “living with” the chimpanzees, not just observing them from afar. This approach surprised the world and revealed that chimpanzees have social and emotional behaviors closely related to humans. These discoveries debunked the long-held belief that humans are the only species capable of empathy. In a calm and responsible manner, Dr. Goodall showed that the relationship between humans and nature runs deeper than we think.
In 1977, Dr. Goodall founded the Jane Goodall Institute to continue her research, promote habitat conservation, and expand her impact on society. In 1991, she launched a program for young people called Roots & Shoots. Dr. Goodall created this program to encourage young people worldwide to take action for the environment, wildlife, and community. Through a combination of science, empathy, and humanitarian action, Dr. Goodall has redefined the meaning of “conservation” not only to protect nature but also to respect human and animal life together.
Now, at the age of almost 100, the world has lost one of its heartbeats.
Dr. Jane Goodall was not just a scientist and activist; she was also the gentle voice of the increasingly silent forests, now returned to the land she always defended. But it is not sadness she leaves behind, but rather an ethos of courage and steadfastness in loving the universe amidst a world that chooses to destroy.
Dr. Goodall never just studied chimpanzees, he studied humanity.
She showed that the boundary between humans and nature is merely an illusion created by our arrogance.
From her gentle hands offering bananas in the Gombe forest, a new understanding was born: that empathy is not the exclusive domain of one species. That civilization does not mean distancing ourselves from nature, but returning to it.
Now, in her passing, the world is once again faced with the question she left behind:
Can we still hear the voice of the earth?
The voice she once translated in every gaze of a chimpanzee, in every broken branch, and in every careful step on the damp African soil.
Dr. Goodall’s consistency and determination are not just a story about research or environmental activism. She is a role model for young people to remain courageous and start small in caring for the earth. Dr. Goodall teaches us that big changes do not always come from grand buildings or global conferences, but they always come from simplicity, from listening, caring for, and loving the earth selflessly. In the midst of the growing climate crisis and injustice, today’s young generation must dare to carry forward her spirit by not giving up, not becoming cynical, and never ceasing to hope. Because, like Dr. Goodall, we can be part of healing the world from environmental damage.
Daftar Pustaka
– https://www.bbc.com/indonesia/articles/c0m42y93x80o
– https://mongabay.co.id/2025/10/01/jane-goodall-ahli-primata-dan-konservasionis-dunia-wafat-di-usia-91-tahun/
– https://janegoodall.org/
