British scientist Jane Goodall, whose work with African primates has brought international recognition, was on Tuesday given a UNESCO honour for her fight to protect humankind’s nearest animal cousins.
The head of the Paris-based United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, Koichiro Matsuura, said that the 60th Anniversary Medal went to Goodall, 71, for her activism, her contribution to science “and to the survival of the human being and its closest species”. Goodall thanked teams working for her in 90 countries as she took the award, saying, “This medal will in a way help all of them in the battle and to make the world a better place.”
The British primatologist is considered one of the 20th centuries leading scientists for her work with chimpanzees in the Gombe reserve in Tanzania, and the discoveries she made observing them and their social behaviour.
In 1977, she created the Jane Goodall Institute to manage a network of centres in Africa that care for chimpanzees that survived poachers. She also instigated the ChimpanZoo programme to improve the lives of captive primates and another programme, Roots and Shoots, to educate children about environmental issues.
Goodall was also to be received by French PM Dominique de Villepin who was to bestow her with a Legion d’Honneur.