Why do conservation?

Many of us are concerned about conservation issues. We care about primates. We worry about hunting and deforestation. We worry about environmental degradation. We want to protect biodiversity. But what exactly are the goals of conservationists? Is it to preserve biodiversity? To protect habitats? To save certain species from extinction?

What do you think are the goals of conservation? What does conservation mean to you?
Define any terms you use (such as biodiversity).

To determine effective strategies, it is important to understand what we are trying to do!

Workday with Ubuntu

On Saturday, the Duke/UNC Roots & Shoots hosted our largest service day yet at the Duke Lemur Center. Twenty-five volunteers spent their mornings transporting trash to a dumpster or tearing down an old enclosure. The difference in just an hour and a half’s work was dramatic. Where a building once stood, remained only fragmented pieces. The space once occupied by a tonnage of wooden beams and other parts was now empty save the separated metal bits.

Ubuntu, Duke’s civic engagement themed living group, organized the day’s event with the help of Roots & Shoots as part of their annual ‘rush.’ Members and prospective members of Ubuntu volunteered. Fortunately, the tasks at hand were appropriate for such a large and enthusiastic group.

After the work segment, the Duke students broke up into smaller groups to receive tours of the center. The day’s terrific weather brought out the sifakas, ringtails, and other prosimians. As per the group’s focus on social change, Roots & Shoots got to talk especially about the center’s important contributions to conservation and the role of research in preserving biodiversity.

The Duke/UNC Roots & Shoots group is now developing our calendar for spring service-days at the Duke Lemur Center. If you are interested in volunteering or hosting a group of volunteers, please contact nc.roots.shoots@gmail.com

High schools Skype to save bonobos (and humanity)

Yesterday Aaron Sandel and Kara Schroepfer had a discussion about bonobo conservation with a high school in Minnetonka, Minnesota. The biology club had questions about Friends of Bonobos and bonobo cognition and conservation. After discussing research by Dr. Brian Hare's research team on bonobo cooperation, empathy and cognition, we discussed general conservation issues. We brainstormed the threats to bonobos, the problems facing humanity/the world and realized the solutions to both are the same (decrease poverty, increase education, facilitate empathy among people, etc.).

Reaching out about primates

The Duke/UNC Roots & Shoots group has been keeping busy doing outreach and awareness about primates, working with Dr. Brian Hare and Dr. Anne Pusey in the Evolutionary Anthropology department at Duke.

October 23-24 Dr. Brian Hare and members of his lab, including a handful of Roots & Shoots members, went to Washington, D.C. for the National Science Festival.

Ben Finkel sees if people are as smart as other apes (photo: Chris Adamczyk)

We have also been leading discussions with high schoolers about primates and evolutionary anthropology.

Ben Finkel and Aaron Sandel led a discussion with the high school at Carolina Friends School about bonobos and human behavior. Aaron also led discussions on primate cognition and conservation at Brookline High School in Brookline, MA.

Understanding the biology and evolution of humans and our closest relatives gives an important perspective on who we are and why we behave in the ways that we do. That is why evolutionary anthropology outreach and education is so important. Also, since so many primates are endangered, we need to raise awareness and brainstorm innovative ways to protect biodiversity. If you would like us to come lead a discussion at your school in the Durham area, please send an email to nc.roots.shoots@gmail.com.

Primate Conservation Continues

After meeting Jane Goodall and having learned lots from the Roots & Shoots summit, we continued on our adventure.

Day 3- Monday, October 11

We had lunch in Manhattan with Dr. Carter Ingram, Assistant Director of Conservation Support at the Wildlife Conservation Society. We discussed the carbon market and the potential of REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation).

That night we had dinner in Philadelphia with Dr. Meredith Bastian, Curator of Primates at the Philadelphia Zoo, and Dr. Michele Rasmussen, Dean of Students at Bryn Mawr. Meredith suggested we support sustainable palm oil (which will be more effective than boycotting palm oil). She also mentioned the sad news that her orangutan field site was completely burned down (so all the animals she had studied are presumably dead).

Day 4- Tuesday, October 12

We ran into Thomas Friedman on the metro in Washington, D.C. and filled him in on our retreat (he suggested we connect with Conservation International).

After some detours on the metro, we arrived in Arlington, VA at Jane Goodall Institute headquarters. We met with Alex Thornton, Vice President of Public Policy at JGI. She suggested we create a resource page about how to take action for primate conservation. We also discussed the Alamogordo chimpanzees and strategies to improve conditions for chimpanzees used in biomedical research. We then met with Dr. Lillian Pintea to follow up on conservation strategies in Africa. He told us more about the use of GIS and high-resolution imagery. He is excited about making collaborations with universities and will be coming to Duke sometime in the next few months. We also chatted with Alice Macharia, Director for East Africa Programs, and Lisa Pharoah, 
Director for West and Central Africa Programs. They shared with us some of their conservation education materials that are used in chimpanzee habitat countries. We bid farewell to Stephanie Keller and Allison Deines, both of whom are excited about Primate Palooza 2011.

Roots & Shoots summit

Day 1- Friday, October 8

After a morning of travelling, Ben (Duke 2013), Joel (Duke 2013) and I (Aaron) arrive in Danbury, Connecticut where the first annual Roots & Shoots Leadership Summit is held. We presented a poster of projects we have done so far at meet-and-greet, had some Jane Goodall certified teas, and met some other group members and JGI staff. Later, Megan (Duke 2012) and Chase (UNC 2011) arrived (after a dilatory bus ride), and we planned what workshops we wanted to attend the next day.

Day 2- Saturday, October 9

After showers and breakfast, we went to WestConn’s campus for the workshop, where we met our James Madison University collaborators Justin and Kaeley (JMU 2011). Workshops ensued. We learned about conservation efforts around Gombe (including the use of GIS, GPS and high-resolution imaging technology), the new endangered species youth campaign, how to be a good leader, and how to engage youth.

In the evening, Chase led a discussion with Dr. Jane Goodall and Dr. Rick Asselta. They shared Roots & Shoots stories, and inspired us as they casually chatted in sofa chairs on stage. Dr. Jane even joked about her own mortality. Roots & Shoots will be her legacy, continuing the messages of peace and empathy through community and conservation action.

That night, Dr. Jane spoke to the summit participants and about 900 people from the public on the past 50 years at Gombe and looking forward. No matter how many times I have seen her speak, her quiet obstinacy and patient passion continues to inspire. We spoke with her briefly afterwards, filling her in on some of our projects at Duke and UNC.

Day 3- Sunday, October 10

On our last day we split up into groups to discuss ways of turning ideas into projects and implementing them productively. And so ended the summit.

Photos: Kaeley Pryor

Carolina Friends, Friends of Bonobos

Korrina Duffy (Dr. Brian Hare's lab coordinator) and Aaron Sandel went to visit Carolina Friends School to talk about primate conservation, with a focus on bonobos. We talked to the whole middle school, and despite the large group, we had great discussions about what makes us human and what strategies to implement to help bonobos and other endangered species. We even played some cognition games.

If you are interested in having a guest lecture on primate behavior, evolution or conservation, please email us at nc.roots.shoots@gmail.com.

Here Korrina and Aaron show off the t-shirts they received after giving the presentation.