Jane Goodall's Reforestation Program Saved from Trump Cuts by Ecosia
Jane Goodall's Tanzania reforestation program was hit with the massive cuts to USAID, but a search engine stepped in to save it and you can help.
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These are bleak times, and it’s easy to feel helpless. That’s why this story is so important.
At the age of 26, Jane Goodall left England to travel to what is now Tanzania, where her work, which began in 1960, revolutionized our understanding of chimpanzee behavior and redefined the relationship between humans and animals. Jane Goodall is now a renowned British primatologist, ethologist, anthropologist, and UN Messenger of Peace.
One of the most significant projects of the Jane Goodall Institute involves restoring degraded ecosystems in Tanzania’s Gombe Masito Ugalla biosphere reserve. This project was hit with Trump’s massive cuts to USAID, but a search engine stepped in to save it, and you can help.
Ecosia
When Trump abruptly cut USAID, “Hundreds of thousands of seedlings in 20 nurseries were suddenly at risk of dying, impacting reforestation efforts that are critical for the survival of chimpanzees and the well-being of local communities.”
A search engine called Ecosia decided to donate $100,000.00 to Goodall’s Institute to protect the seedlings. And while the $100,000.00 doesn’t come close to the $29.5 million over five years that USAID had pledged, it’s a good start.
Ecosia uses its advertising revenue to fund tree-planting projects.
GoodGoodGood reports, “Since its launch in 2009, the company has financed the planting of more than 124 million trees. In March 2021 alone, the Berlin-based company made nearly 2 million euros ($2.4 million), more than 40% of which went directly to tree planting in 14 countries across five continents, according to their financial reports.”
It works by revenue from ads that users click on. The ads are delivered by Bing. GoodGoodGood says, “Ecosia earns an average of 0.5 cents (Euro) per search, so it takes approximately 45 searches to finance the planting of one tree.”
Ecosia’s funding pledge is for $100,000.00 over three years, which will help the Jane Goodall Institute Tanzania “to continue its reforestation work in the Gombe region, saving 360,000 seedlings, and preserving local jobs dedicated to their care. It will ensure 20 tree nurseries can continue growing endemic, native species, including valuable food sources such as avocado, lemon and mango. Once planted, the trees will restore large areas of cleared forest and provide migration corridors and essential habitats for endangered species, including chimpanzees.”
Hope
This action shows that people can make a difference, even when it feels overwhelming and as if all hope is lost.
“Thanks to the support of Ecosia’s 20 million users, we’re standing with the Jane Goodall Institute to protect habitats, support local communities, and defend biodiversity, one tree at a time,” Ecosia wrote.
Empowered
And you can help.
You can use the Ecosia search engine by accessing your browser's settings and locating the search engine options. Then, select Ecosia from the list of available search engines and designate it as the default. Click here for detailed guidance.
Jane Goodall Goodness
Jane Goodall stays focused on bringing us together and closer to our roots and to our shared humanity. She is the antithesis of Trumpism.
“Today she travels the world, speaking about the threats facing chimpanzees and environmental crises, urging each of us to take action on behalf of all living things and planet we share,” the About Jane page reads.
Ecosia writes of Jane Goodall, “Her work revolutionized how we think about animals, and our relationship with them.”
The best among us want us to share the resources, to protect other living beings, while the worst among us want to plunder the resources for their own greed and power.
Big Betrayal Bill
We will know you by your bill, in other words, we will know you by your priorities and values as exemplified in where you put money and resources and from whom you take and deplete and leave to starve. And boy do we know Republicans now.
But we also know ourselves a little better. We are learning how we can rise to this moment, and what we are made of. And a lot of that news about who we are is very good, as the No Kings protests showed.
This good news is the topper to yesterday’s good news that the Senate Parliamentarian prohibited Republicans from selling off our federal lands because that is not a budget item, and so doesn’t survive the Byrd bath.
The Senate Parliamentarian also rejected Republicans’ efforts to stuff oil/gas offshore drilling into an alleged budget bill, the title of which should be the Big Betrayal Bill, because it betrays every constituency and all of our values, save for the 1%.
“I do have reasons for hope: our clever brains, the resilience of nature, the indomitable human spirit, and above all, the commitment of young people when they’re empowered to take action,” ~~ Jane Goodall.
Share your thoughts by joining us in the comments below.
Thanks for the info about Ecosia and its support of Jane Goodall’s efforts!