Jane Goodall arrived in Gombe, Tanzania, in 1960 to study wild chimpanzees. Years later, a flight over the area changed how she viewed conservation. Below her, Gombe National Park was still green. But the hills around it had lost much of their forest. Local families had cleared trees for farmland, charcoal and income. Without the trees, rain washed soil into Lake Tanganyika. Erosion and landslides became serious problems. The people were struggling, and so was the ecosystem around them.
In 1994, the Jane Goodall Institute launched the TACARE project in 12 villages near Gombe. The goal was not simply to protect chimpanzees. Tanzanian teams worked with village leaders to understand local needs and develop plans for restoring the land.
