THE JANE GOODALL INSTITUTE OF ITALY

The Jane Goodall Institute of Italy was set up in January 1998 as the Italian branch of the Jane Goodall Institute International (JGI) on the initiative of the President the biologist Daniela De Donno. JGI Italy is a socially useful non profit making organisation, its philosophy and aims are based on those of the JGI International: acting to build a better future for people, animals and the environment.

The projects of JGI Italy are:

- Sanganigwa Project:  for the children of an orphanage in Kigoma, Tanzania near the Gombe National Park. The Kigoma region of Tanzania is one of the poorest areas of the world. JGI Italy supports the cost of food, medicine, schooling and recreation for 59 Tanzanian children between the ages of 3 and 19 of different ethnic and religious backgrounds. In addition, their schooling is supplemented by an internal education programme which aims to facilitate children over 18 with their entry into the world of work.
To support the Sanganigwa project, JGI Italy has started up a programme of  “distance sponsorship”, the programme is directed at both institutions and private citizens.

- Environmental education: Roots & Shoots (italian version) is the environmental and humanitarian programme dedicated to young people. The aim of R&S is to teach respect for the environment, to promote knowledge and understanding of other cultures and to uphold the importance of every individual’s commitment. The young people of R&S are actively involved in projects concerning the local community, the environment and animals.

- Teaching about peace and trans-cultural training (italian version):
Teaching about peace and trans-cultural training: to promote inter-cultural knowledge and exchange, through a series of didactic initiatives, a worldwide communication network and concrete action. Respect and collaboration between citizens from different cultural backgrounds is encouraged by means of information on the origins and development of other societies. Trans-cultural education directed at both young people and adults greatly supports the process of social integration which also requires an ever greater commitment to training in many spheres, including the world of work.

- “So like us” (italian version) programme: to expose the often deplorable conditions of chimpanzees in captivity, to monitor and protect chimps in captivity and to teach greater respect for this species which is so similar to our own. Chimps should live freely in the protected forests of Africa, if, unfortunately, captivity is forced upon them then the structures in which they live should be able to guarantee their well-being and behavioural harmony. What’s more these structures have the fundamental task of increasing public awareness of this species as much as possible: that chimps too, just like people, prefer to be free and that their natural habitats are unique and in need of protection.

SOME NEWS

- At last Cozy returns to Africa: his life has seen only neglect and exploitation but now Cozy the chimpanzee is being moved to a Jane Goodall Institute oasis in South Africa.
(August 2006)

In collaboration with the CITES Service of the Italian State Forestry Corps the Jane Goodall Institute in Italy (JGI Italia) has rescued a nine-year-old male chimp that was being kept in a caravan in the Province of Ancona, Italy and has arranged for his transfer to the sanctuary “JGI Chimpanzee Eden” in South Africa directed by Eugene Coussons. Taken away from his mother at the age of one Cozy, as he is called, was legally sold by American traders to an Israeli juggler who trained him for small travelling shows. Cozy performed on tour in Europe until in 2003 his owner fell ill and died in an Italian hospital. While waiting to see what would become of him, he was kept in a cage inside a camper van for three years without once seeing daylight. His only consolation was the care of the one-time partner of the juggler, who looked after him although not without considerable difficulty.

The CITES Service immediately did all they could to find a suitable place for the chimp to live. As has been the case in the past, collaboration with the Jane Goodall Institute was crucial, this international no-profit organisation has been dedicated to the conservation of chimpanzees and their natural environment for years, as well as to environmental education and to cooperation in favour of development. The “JGI Chimpanzee Eden”, a wildlife sanctuary within the Umhloti Nature Reserve in Mpumalanga, in the heart of South Africa, is the largest of all the African reserves, both in terms of its geographical extension and its infrastructure. The Jane Goodall Institute sanctuary is the perfect solution for Cozy as it will allow for his rehabilitation and partial return to nature.

The Jane Goodall Institute has always been opposed to the use of primates for entertainment and advertising, as well as being in profound contrast with their normal life and habits, the apes are also subjected to physical and psychological violence. After this they take their places in the queue of chimpanzees who are over 6-8 years old and as such are no longer of use in the entertainment business; while waiting to be relocated they are kept in squalid zoos or put down by euthanasia.

It is clear that “Operation Cozy” has required considerable effort, both from the Forestry Corps and the Jane Goodall Institute. There are high expectations for the success of the initiative thanks to the presence of the specialists from the CITES Service, vets from the ASUR and experts from the Jane Goodall Institute in Italy and in South Africa.

Photographic material is available on request to: .