The Jane Goodall Institute is a global non-profit organisation focused on wildlife and environmental conservation, with particular emphasis on primates and their habitats.
Founded in 1977 by English primatologist Jane Goodall and Genevieve di San Faustino, the institute operates from its headquarters in Washington, D.C. Its work centres on three pillars: improving the treatment and understanding of primates through public education and legal advocacy, protecting primate habitats through partnerships with local communities, and training young people to continue these conservation efforts. The organisation emerged from Goodall’s pioneering field research with wild chimpanzees at Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania, which began in 1960 and transformed scientific understanding of primate behaviour, tool use and social structures. The institute now operates programmes across Africa and beyond, combining species protection with community-led development that recognises the inseparable link between human welfare and habitat conservation.
