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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Friday August 8, 2008 - 19 Reflecting on a dream come true By Krissie Rutherford SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER The chimpanzees, their habitat, the birthplace of Jane Goodall's studies, the work she's been championing -- it all hit home for Jane Lawton. Executive director of Canada's Jane Goodall Institute (JGI), Lawton embarked on Jane's Chimp Tour earlier this year. It was a two-week trip to three countries in Africa, including Tanzania, where Goodall's research began nearly 50 years ago. "For me, it was a bit of a dream come true," said Lawton, an Oakville resident who has headed up the Canadian JGI since early 2007. "I remember when I started this job, my mother called me and said, `Do you think there'll be some chance you'll get to go to Gombe?'" It was there Goodall began her research on chimpanzees, now the site of the longest-running study of animal species. Lawton began her trip at Gombe National Park in Tanzania, which in the last 10 to 15 years has launched a full conservation program. She was also able to spend some time with Goodall while there. "When Jane Goodall first arrived in Gombe in 1960, the whole area was green, not just the park," Lawton explained. "She began to realize in the early '80s that the level and rate of deforestation was just massive." This is because of population pressure and clearing land to grow crops. As Lawton wrote in her online blog, recounting her trip, "Anyone who has spent time in the presence of the chimpanzees of Gombe will know that they must be saved. The results of the landuse planning and conservation work that is happening around the park is already beginning to have results, both for the chimps and other wildlife of Gombe and for the people who live here." While Lawton had done plenty of reading on the work JGI does in Africa, seeing it was a whole different story. "I've read about it in reports, and I've talked directly with the people who are on the ground running the projects, but I hadn't seen it myself," she said. "I think until you actually physically experience something, it doesn't come home to you." Lawton got a first-hand look at many of the conservation and education programs JGI facilitates in Africa. This includes community centre conservation projects with villagers, schools the JGI built and funds, health programs, AIDS prevention, tree nurseries, and even a loan program to help out villagers. "Education and health were really the biggest areas we've been able to help these people lives," said Lawton. ASHLEY HUTCHESON / SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER REASON FOR HOPE: Jane Lawton sits in her Toronto office with a Jane Goodall stuffed gorilla. "It was really neat to see the projects and the fact that they've had such an impact on the environment, the animals and the people." The Institute's efforts in preserving the lives and habitat of chimpanzees were highlighted for Lawton while she was in Uganda. "The day that I arrived, a young chimp, about a year and a half old, was confiscated from someone who was trying to sell him," she said. Police came in and arrested those responsible. "I saw photos of him. He was a mess, an absolute mess. He looked like a human infant in someone's arms, just so desperate," said Lawton, who noted buying and selling chimps is a big business in Congo, and "the biggest threat to the survival of chimpanzees right now." "The problem is that it's becoming a commercialized trade, and it's no longer about subsistence or survival," she added. "It's more about big commercial markets for bush meat, and chimps are just one of the animals that are being endangered as a result of this." Lawton's firsthand chimp experiences included spending time with wild chimpanzees in Uganda. "Just walking through that gorgeous forest and hearing them call, they're incredibly vocal," she said. "The noise they make is sometimes very moving, sometimes terrifying." In the Republic of Congo, Lawton saw the Institute's chimp sanctuary, which houses nearly 140 chimpanzees, and which the JGI is hoping to double in size. "They're working to see whether they can introduce the chimpanzees to the wild," Lawton explained. "This area offers a lot of potential because it's very sparsely populated by humans." The problem is the wild chimps in the area, who, Lawton said, are "very territorial and aggressive." The chimps have to be introduced without the threat of being killed by their wild counterparts, she adds. Lawton also got a chance to watch groups of chimps nest, un-nested them early in the morning, and tracked their movements. "A lot of the chimps I had been familiar with through Jane Goodall's writing were right there, and I was able to connect with them and see them," Lawton said. This included infant chimps in a sanctuary. "I got to hold a couple of those, and these were infant chimps whose stories I've heard," said Lawton. "They came to us about a year ago, so to be able to hang out with them all was kind of cool." For more information on the Jane Goodall Institute of Canada, visit www.janegoodall.ca. 31st ANNIVERSARY SALE SAVIN GS We've worked with our suppliers to bring you unbeatable factory authorized savings! 50% UP TO The SureSlim Method I had no idea it was as simple as managing my metabolism! We can't choose our metabolism but we can choose how we get it to work. It's not your fault you have fat producing metabolism. It's not you. It's your metabolism! We have medical labs do your blood analysis so that our specialists & doctors can gain a detailed understanding of your metabolism. 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