Jane Goodall Institutes’ Chimp Eden is a Thompsons Africa MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® approved experience, meeting Sustainable Development Goal 15 – Life on Land. Read more about Goal 15 here.

Chimp Eden is a sanctuary for chimps that have been misplaced from their natural habitats in Africa. Guests will be educated on the goal of the sanctuary which is to rescue chimpanzees that have survived the bush meat trade, been orphaned, traded in the illegal pet market, or rescued from being traumatised for entertainment in circuses, beach resorts and night clubs. The chimp is ‘“’Endangered’ under a strict application of the IUCN Red List Criteria (International Union for Conservation of Nature) and is listed in Appendix 1 of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). Chimpanzees in the wild may be extinct within the next 10 – 20 years if current trends cannot be reversed.

Guests are able to virtually ‘adopt’ a chimp via a Donation Adoption Package the proceeds of which are used toward Chimpanzee Welfare and Sanctuary Operations.

In addition to the lifelong care of the chimps at the institute, Chimp Eden committed to education through its public tours, volunteer programme, education centre and school tours. The chimpanzee sanctuary also has an outreach programme to educate local community schools about chimpanzees and sustainability issues, with the assistance of funding from The Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund.

Roots and Shoots, the Jane Goodall Institute’s global and humanitarian youth programme and part of JGI South Africa, undertakes education projects throughout South Africa, and is aimed at empowering youth to commit to human, animal and environment concerns. The Jane Goodall Institute works closely with GRASP (Great Apes Survival Partnership) in educating all involved communities and stakeholders about the plight of the endangered great apes.