Gombe National Park is a strip of protected land nestled at the western edge of Tanzania. Running along the shores of Lake Tanganyika, the park is a combination of exposed grasslands and deciduous and evergreen forests. In the forests of Gombe lives the longest-studied chimp population on Earth.
Explore this place

Chimpanzees are native to the forests of Central and West Africa, including Tanzania. They live near trees because their diet is primarily fruit, although they enjoy leaves, insects and small mammals (including monkeys). Walking through a forest of chimps you’ll hear the call-and-response of grunts and shrieks. Those ‘pant-hoots’ are the loud calls chimps use to identify themselves and communicate with others.
Explore this place

In 1957, a 23-year-old Jane Goodall moved to East Africa from her native England to pursue her childhood passion for African animals. She worked for famous paleontologist Louis Leakey, who believed the study of primates could unlock clues about early ancestors of humans. Jane's adventurous spirit lead her to the forests of Gombe in July 1960, but it was her pioneering research here that altered the course of modern primatology.
Explore this place

When Jane first moved to Gombe she lived in a tent with her mother, made her observations using second-hand binoculars and wrote notes with pencil and paper. She watched the movements of chimps throughout the day, taking notes on their daily habits and social structures. She soon realized the observations she was making challenged most conventional notions about chimpanzees.

At first the chimpanzees were shy around Jane, which made it difficult to conduct research. As time went on they habituated, or got used to her, and she was able to watch them closely, and even interact with them. She saw chimpanzees laugh, play, groom, forage and hunt. She also witnessed their violence, and even experienced a chimpanzee war. By living with them in the wild, Jane was uncovering the secret world of chimpanzees.

In her first year, Jane observed a chimpanzee named David Greybeard using blades of grass to extract termites from small holes. He was using the grass as a tool, something scientists had believed was unique to humans. Jane's observation revolutionized our thinking about the relationship between humans and the animal kingdom. We now know that chimps are humans' closest living relative, sharing 98% of our DNA.

Jane was a non-conventional animal researcher, in that she named her subjects instead of assigning them numbers. She established a naming system wherein babies are given names that start with the same letter as their mother's name. This family tree shows the members of the G-Family, which are part of the larger Kasakela chimpanzee community. Google, Glitter and Gossamer can now be seen in Street View.

In 1977 the Jane Goodall Institute was founded to build on the existing research in Gombe, and expand the reach of Jane’s scientific work and humanitarian vision. Today JGI’s mission goes beyond Gombe, as the organization strives to protect 85% of chimpanzees and their habitats across Africa. They are also engaging young people around the world in community conservation projects through the Roots & Shoots program.

Scientists at the Gombe Stream Research Center are working in partnership with labs across the world, including Duke University, to contribute to academic studies. Using the generations of research at Gombe as baseline data, scientists can predict how changes in habitat, social structure, and disease could potentially impact chimp populations. Studying chimps can also unlock clues about humans (e.g., studies of SIV in Gombe chimps has contributed to research on the HIV virus).

JGI has also invested in a community conservation program that empowers local people to build sustainable livelihoods while promoting regional conservation goals, like reforestation and ending the bushmeat trade. By investing in health and education, and offering trainings in resource management, agriculture and forestry, the CCC programs promote economic and cultural prosperity while protecting natural resources.

Protecting chimps means protecting their habitat, and that habitat extends outside the park boundaries. JGI is deploying GPS-enabled Android smartphones and tablets to local people and park rangers across Africa. These forest monitors are empowered to record and report wildlife presence and illegal human activities on the devices. The data is then uploaded into the cloud, analyzed using Google Earth Engine and shared with decision-makers.

When field data reported by forest monitors is combined with satellite imagery, conservation scientists are able to monitor the health of chimpanzee habitat on a large scale. Using innovative technology, these scientist are able to plan, implement and measure habitat conservation efforts. JGI is working to scale forest monitoring efforts across chimp habitat to allow local knowledge to be accessed globally.

With its unique ecosystem, thoroughly documented chimp population and more than 50 years of groundbreaking research, Gombe is a living laboratory. Discoveries made in the forests of Gombe are applicable to ecosystems all over the world. As a place of natural beauty, an important wildlife habitat and a hub of scientific research, Gombe truly is a place like no other.