The idea for a book of hopeful stories about wildlife was launched on an autumn evening in 2002. In the middle of a public lecture at a sold-out basketball arena, Jane stepped away from the podium and said her classic line, “Let me tell you a story…”
Reaching behind the podium, Jane slowly pulled out the largest feather I’d ever seen; indeed, one of the largest feathers in the world. It was a primary feather from a California condor, the most endangered animal in America. She told the enthralled gathering that she carried it with her for inspiration because it reminded her not that magnificent creatures were disappearing—as is so often reported, even to children—but instead that many species are coming back from the brink of extinction. Thanks to the hard work of a great spectrum of experts, activists, students, and enthusiasts, the California condor is flying again.
When her lecture was through, Jane walked up the stairs through the cheering crowd with the feather held aloft like the symbol of a tribal chief. Indeed, in that moment on such a fair fall night, we six thousand gathered there were a tribe united to care for wildlife and the natural world around us. After all, we had learned, such diversity is what holds the earth steady.
This book is a starting point to share the hope of such a dream. A dream in which caring people of all ages, from all over the world and all walks of life, show that it is possible to help, rather than harm, the rest of the world around us. For it is not counter to human nature to be hopeful. In fact, it is quite the opposite—it is essential to our nature.
People are as persevering as gray squirrels after a bird feeder and as tenacious as the termites who rebuild the topsoil on the forest floor. And just as nature has evolved to be nearly immeasurably resilient, filling in gaps created by storms, disease, and other calamities, so have human beings, both as individuals and as cultures, proven the ability to come back from disaster time and again. This is perhaps our greatest strength. As British author John Gardner put it, “We are at our best when the way is steep.”
I really have no idea why Jane and I are so disproportionately buoyant in such a time of loss. I’ve even been called “a public nuisance” because my NPR radio broadcasts, Field Notes with Thane Maynard and The 90-Second Naturalist, promote a sense of wonder about nature rather than a sense of gloom. And while I know that we live lives of unprecedented destruction, I am blessed to also know many great people effectively working (and most of them quietly) to save what they can. To me they are like Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King, carrying on with their miracles that many others believe impossible.
It is this same sort of passion that is represented in nearly every effective conservationist I have ever known. While the naysayers stand by wheezing and huffing and puffing about how “this will never work,” or “it’s too late to save this species or habitat,” or “be practical, we have to compromise with the developers,” it is the truly passionate conservationists who never give up. They are empowered by the hard work. You can see it in their eyes.
Maybe I’m also optimistic because in many countries, I find a growing sense of pride in their flagship species and their natural heritage. Just as importantly, there is a sense that they have a reason to protect what is still there. Not only because it is good for tourism or foreign exchange, but also because it is important to them and their children.
So today, when we live in an age of terrible loss all around us, rather than sadness for what we’ve done, it is essential that we express hope for what can be done. In order to do that, we need guiding lights—role models—who can light the way. For there are thousands of success stories of wild animals and plants that are making a comeback. And of people who are helping to protect the natural world we depend upon. They are, as Martin Luther King described himself in his self-scribed eulogy, “drum majors” for wildlife conservation.
And speaking of role models, it’s worth noting that while we were pulling together this collection of conservation success stories, almost every conservationist we talked with harkened back to the key role Jane’s early work had in shaping their careers. Some mentioned the 1960s cover stories in National Geographic magazine. Others referenced the early TV specials about her life among the wild chimpanzees. And almost everyone spoke of the direct impact of Jane’s seminal research chronicled in her 1971 book, In the Shadow of Man. The significance of her first book to these modern-day conservationists encompassed much more than just Jane’s scientific accomplishments.
As Dr. David Hamburg, of the Stanford University School of Medicine, wrote in the original forward to In the Shadow of Man, “Once in a generation, there occurs a piece of research that changes man’s view of himself. The reader of this book has the privilege of sharing such an experience.”
At the time, of course, he was marveling at Jane’s remarkable discoveries in chimpanzee behavior. However, her long-term study of wildlife, the first of its kind, also changed the way men and women viewed the possibilities of their own lives and careers. For there is not a “field biologist,” as the new parlance goes, who does not owe a debt to the inspiration of Jane Goodall.
And now, nearly half a century in, Jane’s ongoing work has motivated two generations of researchers and conservationists, including the people in this book working tirelessly to save wildlife. This group covers a wide spectrum. Some were educated at the best universities in the world. Others are largely self-taught through a lifetime of working with animals. Most are broke, since nobody goes into protecting wildlife for the money or vacation time. Group members span from their twenties to their seventies in age; some of them are politically savvy, and others are obstinate. But they share two things in common: They refuse to give up or take no for an answer, and they recognize that Jane Goodall authentically understands the relationship that is essential between wildlife and humans.
These are their stories.