Our Approach

Our planetary health is at risk, with critical ecosystems on the verge of collapse. The solution lies in Tacare, the Jane Goodall Institute’s proven community-led approach to conservation, which harnesses a powerful truth: Those with the deepest connection to endangered ecosystems are best placed to protect them.

Through this approach, the Jane Goodall Institute of Canada partners with local communities to create sustainable and lasting solutions that benefit animals, people, and the environment. This approach integrates Indigenous knowledge, scientific data, and innovative technologies with locally-owned decision-making processes and solutions.

Engage:

The process starts with our team and the community beginning a dialogue.

Listen:

Our team listens to the community’s needs, concerns, insights, values, beliefs, and ways of knowing.

Understand:

Tacare uses geospatial technologies – combining traditional and scientific knowledge – to model how the needs of animals, people and the environment are interconnected. This allows us to develop a shared understanding of the main problems and potential solutions by valuing different knowledge systems and ways of knowing.

Facilitate:

To address the issues identified and implement solutions, our team works with community leaders, members, groups, and local governments. Because Tacare addresses both the symptoms and the causes of environmental degradation, local solutions are holistic – and range from land-use planning and forest monitoring, to sustainable agriculture and improved forest farming practices, to primary health care for children and business opportunities for women.

Step Back:

Because the Tacare approach is offered and not imposed, community members can choose to participate and then freely own and drive the conservation activities. If the community does not wish to be engaged, or if they no longer wish to be engaged after a certain point, their decision is respected and our team steps back.

When Dr. Jane went to Gombe more than six decades ago for her research, she discovered that “the communities living around [Gombe] are cutting down the trees because they were struggling to survive. They needed money from charcoal and timber, or to make land to grow more food.”

“It hit me then that, if we didn’t find ways to help them make a living without destroying the environment, we wouldn’t save the chimpanzees, forests, or anything else. And so we began the Jane Goodall Institute method of true community-led conservation.”

Tacare honours the expertise of African communities and Indigenous Peoples in Canada living alongside wildlife – while recognizing that, in order for environmental solutions to be sustainable, they must also address the needs of human populations.

Our Approach in Action

Conservation and Sustainable Management of Coastal and Marine Ecosystems

In the coastal regions of Kenya and Tanzania, thousands of community members are working to protect and conserve coastal and marine ecosystems with sustainable solutions. Together with partners, we’re supporting this important work.

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Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots

Roots & Shoots helps youth around the world harness their energy and supports the development of service projects that benefit animals, people, and the environment. In Canada, more than 12,000 young people are actively involved in Roots & Shoots projects each year.

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