7th Asia Environment Lecture
The 7th Asia Environment Lecture (AEL) was held at the University Cultural Centre on 28 November 2019. The AEL is jointly organised by the NUS Masters of Environmental Management Programme, Asia-Pacific Centre of Environmental Law, and the Bachelor of Environmental Studies Programme.
This year, we collaborated with Jane Goodall Institute Singapore to bring Dr Jane Goodall, world-renowned conservationist and UN Messenger for peace, to deliver the keynote speech for the 7th AEL. Dr Jane Goodall’s talk was entitled “Living in Harmony with Nature & Wildlife” and the guest of honour for the evening was Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Heng Swee Keat.
For her lecture, Dr Goodall spoke about her journey towards becoming a conservationist. She had an interest in animals since she was a young girl and had a mother who was supportive of her interests and aspirations. She recounted an incident whereby she crawled into a hen’s house during a family holiday and stayed in there for hours to observe how chicken lay their eggs. Her family grew worried when she did not appear and a search started for her. When they finally found her, her mother did not berate her but listened intently to the young girl’s observations.
As her family was not able to afford a university education, she went on to enrol in a secretarial course and started to work. She was then invited for a holiday in Kenya by her friend, a destination that she has dreamed of going for a long time. After months of saving up for her trip, she embarked on her trip to Kenya, where she met a prominent palaeontologist, Dr Louis Leakey. She landed a secretarial role with Dr Leakey and accompanied him on his expeditions. It was Dr Leakey who encouraged her to study chimpanzees.
Accompanied by her mother, Dr Jane Goodall went on her field studies to Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania. It was during her field studies that she made the observation that chimpanzees were capable of making use of tools. She also found that chimpanzees exhibit social, intelligent and emotional behaviours, with different personalities. These observations challenged the notion back then that only humans are capable of utilizing tools and exhibiting social behaviours.
Dr Goodall also spoke about her journey in conservation. She found a connection between poverty and environmental degradation as the land was cleared in Gombe for agricultural purposes. In order to save the chimpanzee’s habitat, she will have to look into the livelihood concerns of the people living around the area. She launched the “Take Care” programme to develop sustainable livelihoods for the locals. Now, the forests around Gombe have recovered significantly. Dr Goodall also founded the Roots and Shoots programme which educates youths and children on environmental and conservation issues.
After the lecture, there was a Q and A session moderated by Dr Shawn Lum, President of the Nature Society Singapore.