Good morning everyone. First of all, it's been fantastic being here over these past few days. And secondly, I feel it's a great honor to kind of wind up this extraordinary gathering of people, these amazing talks that we've had. I feel that I've fitted in, in many ways, to some of the things that I've heard. I came directly here from the deep, deep tropical rainforest in Ecuador, where I was out -- you could only get there by a plane -- with indigenous people with paint on their faces and parrot feathers on their headdresses, where these people are fighting to try and keep the oil companies, and keep the roads, out of their forests. They're fighting to develop their own way of living within the forest in a world that's clean, a world that isn't contaminated, a world that isn't polluted. And what was so amazing to me, and what fits right in with what we're all talking about here at TED, is that there, right in the middle of this rainforest, was some solar panels -- the first in that part of Ecuador -- and that was mainly to bring water up by pump so that the women wouldn't have to go down. The water was cleaned, but because they got a lot of batteries, they were able to store a lot of electricity. So every house -- and there were, I think, eight houses in this little community -- could have light for, I think it was about half an hour each evening. And there is the Chief, in all his regal finery, with a laptop computer. (Laughter) And this man, he has been outside, but he's gone back, and he was saying, "You know, we have suddenly jumped into a whole new era, and we didn't even know about the white man 50 years ago, and now here we are with laptop computers, and there are some things we want to learn from the modern world. We want to know about health care. We want to know about what other people do -- we're interested in it. And we want to learn other languages. We want to know English and French and perhaps Chinese, and we're good at languages." So there he is with his little laptop computer, but fighting against the might of the pressures -- because of the debt, the foreign debt of Ecuador -- fighting the pressure of World Bank, IMF, and of course the people who want to exploit the forests and take out the oil. And so, coming directly from there to here. But, of course, my real field of expertise lies in an even different kind of civilization -- I can't really call it a civilization. A different way of life, a different being. We've talked earlier -- this wonderful talk by Wade Davis about the different cultures of the humans around the world -- but the world is not composed only of human beings; there are also other animal beings. And I propose to bring into this TED conference, as I always do around the world, the voice of the animal kingdom. Too often we just see a few slides, or a bit of film, but these beings have voices that mean something. And so, I want to give you a greeting, as from a chimpanzee in the forests of Tanzania -- Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh! (Applause) I've been studying chimpanzees in Tanzania since 1960. During that time, there have been modern technologies that have really transformed the way that field biologists do their work. For example, for the first time, a few years ago, by simply collecting little fecal samples we were able to have them analyzed -- to have DNA profiling done -- so for the first time, we actually know which male chimps are the fathers of each individual infant. Because the chimps have a very promiscuous mating society. So this opens up a whole new avenue of research. And we use GSI -- geographic whatever it is, GSI -- to determine the range of the chimps. And we're using -- you can see that I'm not really into this kind of stuff -- but we're using satellite imagery to look at the deforestation in the area. And of course, there's developments in infrared, so you can watch animals at night, and equipment for recording by video, and tape recording is getting lighter and better. So in many, many ways, we can do things today that we couldn't do when I began in 1960. Especially when chimpanzees, and other animals with large brains, are studied in captivity, modern technology is helping us to search for the upper levels of cognition in some of these non-human animals. So that we know today, they're capable of performances that would have been thought absolutely impossible by science when I began. I think the chimpanzee in captivity who is the most skilled in intellectual performance is one called Ai in Japan -- her name means love -- and she has a wonderfully sensitive partner working with her. She loves her computer -- she'll leave her big group, and her running water, and her trees and everything. And she'll come in to sit at this computer -- it's like a video game for a kid; she's hooked. She's 28, by the way, and she does things with her computer screen and a touch pad that she can do faster than most humans. She does very complex tasks, and I haven't got time to go into them, but the amazing thing about this female is she doesn't like making mistakes. If she has a bad run, and her score isn't good, she'll come and reach up and tap on the glass -- because she can't see the experimenter -- which is asking to have another go. And her concentration -- she's already concentrated hard for 20 minutes or so, and now she wants to do it all over again, just for the satisfaction of having done it better. And the food is not important -- she does get a tiny reward, like one raisin for a correct response -- but she will do it for nothing, if you tell her beforehand. So here we are, a chimpanzee using a computer. Chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans also learn human sign language. But the point is that when I was first in Gombe in 1960 -- I remember so well, so vividly, as though it was yesterday -- the first time, when I was going through the vegetation, the chimpanzees were still running away from me, for the most part, although some were a little bit acclimatized -- and I saw this dark shape, hunched over a termite mound, and I peered with my binoculars. It was, fortunately, one adult male whom I'd named David Greybeard -- and by the way, science at that time was telling me that I shouldn't name the chimps; they should all have numbers; that was more scientific. Anyway, David Greybeard -- and I saw that he was picking little pieces of grass and using them to fish termites from their underground nest. And not only that -- he would sometimes pick a leafy twig and strip the leaves -- modifying an object to make it suitable for a specific purpose -- the beginning of tool-making. The reason this was so exciting and such a breakthrough is at that time, it was thought that humans, and only humans, used and made tools. When I was at school, we were defined as man, the toolmaker. So that when Louis Leakey, my mentor, heard this news, he said, "Ah, we must now redefine 'man,' redefine 'tool,' or accept chimpanzees as humans." (Laughter) We now know that at Gombe alone, there are nine different ways in which chimpanzees use different objects for different purposes. Moreover, we know that in different parts of Africa, wherever chimps have been studied, there are completely different tool-using behaviors. And because it seems that these patterns are passed from one generation to the next, through observation, imitation and practice -- that is a definition of human culture. What we find is that over these 40-odd years that I and others have been studying chimpanzees and the other great apes, and, as I say, other mammals with complex brains and social systems, we have found that after all, there isn't a sharp line dividing humans from the rest of the animal kingdom. It's a very wuzzy line. It's getting wuzzier all the time as we find animals doing things that we, in our arrogance, used to think was just human. The chimps -- there's no time to discuss their fascinating lives -- but they have this long childhood, five years of suckling and sleeping with the mother, and then another three, four or five years of emotional dependence on her, even when the next child is born. The importance of learning in that time, when behavior is flexible -- and there's an awful lot to learn in chimpanzee society. The long-term affectionate supportive bonds that develop throughout this long childhood with the mother, with the brothers and sisters, and which can last through a lifetime, which may be up to 60 years. They can actually live longer than 60 in captivity, so we've only done 40 years in the wild so far. And we find chimps are capable of true compassion and altruism. We find in their non-verbal communication -- this is very rich -- they have a lot of sounds, which they use in different circumstances, but they also use touch, posture, gesture, and what do they do? They kiss; they embrace; they hold hands. They pat one another on the back; they swagger; they shake their fist -- the kind of things that we do, and they do them in the same kind of context. They have very sophisticated cooperation. Sometimes they hunt -- not that often, but when they hunt, they show sophisticated cooperation, and they share the prey. We find that they show emotions, similar to -- maybe sometimes the same -- as those that we describe in ourselves as happiness, sadness, fear, despair. They know mental as well as physical suffering. And I don't have time to go into the information that will prove some of these things to you, save to say that there are very bright students, in the best universities, studying emotions in animals, studying personalities in animals. We know that chimpanzees and some other creatures can recognize themselves in mirrors -- "self" as opposed to "other." They have a sense of humor, and these are the kind of things which traditionally have been thought of as human prerogatives. But this teaches us a new respect -- and it's a new respect not only for the chimpanzees, I suggest, but some of the other amazing animals with whom we share this planet. Once we're prepared to admit that after all, we're not the only beings with personalities, minds and above all feelings, and then we start to think about ways we use and abuse so many other sentient, sapient creatures on this planet, it really gives cause for deep shame, at least for me. So, the sad thing is that these chimpanzees -- who've perhaps taught us, more than any other creature, a little humility -- are in the wild, disappearing very fast. They're disappearing for the reasons that all of you in this room know only too well. The deforestation, the growth of human populations, needing more land. They're disappearing because some timber companies go in with clear-cutting. They're disappearing in the heart of their range in Africa because the big multinational logging companies have come in and made roads -- as they want to do in Ecuador and other parts where the forests remain untouched -- to take out oil or timber. And this has led in Congo basin, and other parts of the world, to what is known as the bush-meat trade. This means that although for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years, people have lived in those forests, or whatever habitat it is, in harmony with their world, just killing the animals they need for themselves and their families -- now, suddenly, because of the roads, the hunters can go in from the towns. They shoot everything, every single thing that moves that's bigger than a small rat; they sun-dry it or smoke it. And now they've got transport; they take it on the logging trucks or the mining trucks into the towns where they sell it. And people will pay more for bush-meat, as it's called, than for domestic meat -- it's culturally preferred. And it's not sustainable, and the huge logging camps in the forest are now demanding meat, so the Pygmy hunters in the Congo basin who've lived there with their wonderful way of living for so many hundreds of years are now corrupted. They're given weapons; they shoot for the logging camps; they get money. Their culture is being destroyed, along with the animals upon whom they depend. So, when the logging camp moves, there's nothing left. We talked already about the loss of human cultural diversity, and I've seen it happening with my own eyes. And the grim picture in Africa -- I love Africa, and what do we see in Africa? We see deforestation; we see the desert spreading; we see massive hunger; we see disease and we see population growth in areas where there are more people living on a certain piece of land than the land can possibly support, and they're too poor to buy food from elsewhere. Were the people that we heard about yesterday, on the Easter Island, who cut down their last tree -- were they stupid? Didn't they know what was happening? Of course, but if you've seen the crippling poverty in some of these parts of the world it isn't a question of "Let's leave the tree for tomorrow." "How am I going to feed my family today? Maybe I can get just a few dollars from this last tree which will keep us going a little bit longer, and then we'll pray that something will happen to save us from the inevitable end." So, this is a pretty grim picture. The one thing we have, which makes us so different from chimpanzees or other living creatures, is this sophisticated spoken language -- a language with which we can tell children about things that aren't here. We can talk about the distant past, plan for the distant future, discuss ideas with each other, so that the ideas can grow from the accumulated wisdom of a group. We can do it by talking to each other; we can do it through video; we can do it through the written word. And we are abusing this great power we have to be wise stewards, and we're destroying the world. In the developed world, in a way, it's worse, because we have so much access to knowledge of the stupidity of what we're doing. Do you know, we're bringing little babies into a world where, in many places, the water is poisoning them? And the air is harming them, and the food that's grown from the contaminated land is poisoning them. And that's not just in the far-away developing world; that's everywhere. Do you know we all have about 50 chemicals in our bodies we didn't have about 50 years ago? And so many of these diseases, like asthma and certain kinds of cancers, are on the increase around places where our filthy toxic waste is dumped. We're harming ourselves around the world, as well as harming the animals, as well as harming nature herself -- Mother Nature, that brought us into being; Mother Nature, where I believe we need to spend time, where there's trees and flowers and birds for our good psychological development. And yet, there are hundreds and hundreds of children in the developed world who never see nature, because they're growing up in concrete and all they know is virtual reality, with no opportunity to go and lie in the sun, or in the forest, with the dappled sun-specks coming down from the canopy above. As I was traveling around the world, you know, I had to leave the forest -- that's where I love to be. I had to leave these fascinating chimpanzees for my students and field staff to continue studying because, finding they dwindled from about two million 100 years ago to about 150,000 now, I knew I had to leave the forest to do what I could to raise awareness around the world. And the more I talked about the chimpanzees' plight, the more I realized the fact that everything's interconnected, and the problems of the developing world so often stem from the greed of the developed world, and everything was joining together, and making -- not sense, hope lies in sense, you said -- it's making a nonsense. How can we do it? Somebody said that yesterday. And as I was traveling around, I kept meeting young people who'd lost hope. They were feeling despair, they were feeling, "Well, it doesn't matter what we do; eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die. Everything is hopeless -- we're always being told so by the media." And then I met some who were angry, and anger that can turn to violence, and we're all familiar with that. And I have three little grandchildren, and when some of these students would say to me at high school or university, they'd say, "We're angry," or "We're filled with despair, because we feel you've compromised our future, and there's nothing we can do about it." And I looked in the eyes of my little grandchildren, and think how much we've harmed this planet since I was their age. I feel this deep shame, and that's why in 1991 in Tanzania, I started a program that's called Roots and Shoots. There's little brochures all around outside, and if any of you have anything to do with children and care about their future, I beg that you pick up that brochure. And Roots and Shoots is a program for hope. Roots make a firm foundation. Shoots seem tiny, but to reach the sun they can break through brick walls. See the brick walls as all the problems that we've inflicted on this planet. Then, you see, it is a message of hope. Hundreds and thousands of young people around the world can break through, and can make this a better world. And the most important message of Roots and Shoots is that every single individual makes a difference. Every individual has a role to play. Every one of us impacts the world around us everyday, and you scientists know that you can't actually -- even if you stay in bed all day, you're breathing oxygen and giving out CO2, and probably going to the loo, and things like that -- you're making a difference in the world. So, the Roots and Shoots program involves youth in three kinds of projects. And these are projects to make the world around them a better place. One project to show care and concern for your own human community. One for animals, including domestic animals -- and I have to say, I learned everything I know about animal behavior even before I got to Gombe and the chimps from my dog, Rusty, who was my childhood companion. And the third kind of project: something for the local environment. So what the kids do depends first of all, how old are they -- and we go now from pre-school right through university. It's going to depend whether they're inner-city or rural. It's going to depend if they're wealthy or impoverished. It's going to depend which part, say, of America they're in. We're in every state now, and the problems in Florida are different from the problems in New York. It's going to depend on which country they're in -- and we're already in 60-plus countries, with about 5,000 active groups -- and there are groups all over the place that I keep hearing about that I've never even heard of, because the kids are taking the program and spreading it themselves. Why? Because they're buying into it, and they're the ones who get to decide what they're going to do. It isn't something that their parents tell them, or their teachers tell them. That's effective, but if they decide themselves, "We want to clean this river and put the fish back that used to be there. We want to clear away the toxic soil from this area and have an organic garden. We want to go and spend time with the old people and hear their stories and record their oral histories. We want to go and work in a dog shelter. We want to learn about animals. We want ... " You know, it goes on and on, and this is very hopeful for me. As I travel around the world 300 days a year, everywhere there's a group of Roots and Shoots of different ages. Everywhere there are children with shining eyes saying, "Look at the difference we've made." And now comes the technology into it, because with this new way of communicating electronically these kids can communicate with each other around the world. And if anyone is interested to help us, we've got so many ideas but we need help -- we need help to create the right kind of system that will help these young people to communicate their excitement. But also -- and this is so important -- to communicate their despair, to say, "We've tried this and it doesn't work, and what shall we do?" And then, lo and behold, there's another group answering these kids who may be in America, or maybe this is a group in Israel, saying, "Yeah, you did it a little bit wrong. This is how you should do it." The philosophy is very simple. We do not believe in violence. No violence, no bombs, no guns. That's not the way to solve problems. Violence leads to violence, at least in my view. So how do we solve? The tools for solving the problems are knowledge and understanding. Know the facts, but see how they fit in the big picture. Hard work and persistence --don't give up -- and love and compassion leading to respect for all life. How many more minutes? Two, one? Chris Anderson: One -- one to two. Jane Goodall: Two, two, I'm going to take two. (Laughter) Are you going to come and drag me off? (Laughter) Anyway -- so basically, Roots and Shoots is beginning to change young people's lives. It's what I'm devoting most of my energy to. And I believe that a group like this can have a very major impact, not just because you can share technology with us, but because so many of you have children. And if you take this program out, and give it to your children, they have such a good opportunity to go out and do good, because they've got parents like you. And it's been so clear how much you all care about trying to make this world a better place. It's very encouraging. But the kids do ask me -- and this won't take more than two minutes, I promise -- the kids say, "Dr. Jane, do you really have hope for the future? You travel, you see all these horrible things happening." Firstly, the human brain -- I don't need to say anything about that. Now that we know what the problems are around the world, human brains like yours are rising to solve those problems. And we've talked a lot about that. Secondly, the resilience of nature. We can destroy a river, and we can bring it back to life. We can see a whole area desolated, and it can be brought back to bloom again, with time or a little help. And thirdly, the last speaker talked about -- or the speaker before last, talked about the indomitable human spirit. We are surrounded by the most amazing people who do things that seem to be absolutely impossible. Nelson Mandela -- I take a little piece of limestone from Robben Island Prison, where he labored for 27 years, and came out with so little bitterness, he could lead his people from the horror of apartheid without a bloodbath. Even after the 11th of September -- and I was in New York and I felt the fear -- nevertheless, there was so much human courage, so much love and so much compassion. And then as I went around the country after that and felt the fear -- the fear that was leading to people feeling they couldn't worry about the environment any more, in case they seemed not to be patriotic -- and I was trying to encourage them, somebody came up with a little quotation from Mahatma Gandhi, "If you look back through human history, you see that every evil regime has been overcome by good." And just after that a woman brought me this little bell, and I want to end on this note. She said, "If you're talking about hope and peace, ring this. This bell is made from metal from a defused landmine, from the killing fields of Pol Pot -- one of the most evil regimes in human history -- where people are now beginning to put their lives back together after the regime has crumbled. So, yes, there is hope, and where is the hope? Is it out there with the politicians? It's in our hands. It's in your hands and my hands and those of our children. It's really up to us. We're the ones who can make a difference. If we lead lives where we consciously leave the lightest possible ecological footprints, if we buy the things that are ethical for us to buy and don't buy the things that are not, we can change the world overnight. Thank you.
おはようございます ここ数日この場にいられて 感激しているところです そして 素晴らしい皆さんや これまでのTEDトークを 私が締めくくるなんて 本当に光栄です いろんな意味で 共感が持てる話がありました エクアドルの熱帯雨林の奥地から 直接ここに来ました 飛行機じゃなければ たどり着けない場所で 顔には絵の具 頭には羽をつけた 先住民がいる場所です 彼らは石油会社の侵略や道路建設計画から 森林を守ろうと頑張っています 汚染されていない きれいな森林の中で 自らの暮らしを発展させていこうと 闘っているのです 私が驚いたことでもあり この場にぴったりだと感じたのは その熱帯雨林の真ん中に その地域 初の ソーラーパネルがあり 女たちが 水汲みに行かなくて済むよう 水用のポンプに使用されています 浄化水を得る以上の電気が得られるので 蓄電しています たしか8世帯ある この小さな村では 毎晩30分ほどだったと思いますが どの世帯も電気が使えるのです 装飾をまとった酋長はノートパソコンを持っています (笑) この酋長は外にも出たことのある人で こう言うんです ”いきなり新しい時代に突入しちゃったね 50年前なんて白人の存在すら知らなかったのに 今じゃ パソコンを持つようになった 現代の世界から学びたい事は幾つかある 健康管理について知りたい 他の人のライフスタイルにも興味があるし 外国語も習いたい 英語 フランス語 できれば中国語もね 語学には自信があるんだ” こんな感じで 酋長はパソコンを持ちながら エクアドルが抱える負債が原因で 世界銀行やIMFからの圧力や 熱帯雨林の石油を搾取しようとする者からの 圧力と闘っているのです そんなわけで そこから直接やってきました しかし 私が専門とするのは もっと違った文明社会にあります 文明社会と呼ぶには適切ではないかもしれませんが 異なる生活の仕方や存在です 先ほどウェイド ディビスが世界中の異なる人間文化の 素晴らしい話をされましたが 世界は人間だけで構成されているのではありません 動物たちもいます 私が世界中で常にしていることですが この場でも動物の声に耳を傾けてみませんか 写真や映画は良く見かけますが 動物の声にも意味が込められています ですからタンザニアの森に住む チンパンジーの挨拶をお届けします (チンパンジーの声) (拍手) 私は1960年からタンザニアでチンパンジーの研究をしています それから今に至る間 現代の技術で フィールド生物学者の 研究方法が一変しました 数年前に初めて行った例ですが チンパンジーの糞を採取するだけで DNA分析し 個人識別ができるようになりました おかげで 初めて 各チンパンジーの 父親が特定できるようになりました 不特定多数のメスと交尾するからです これは全く新しい研究手段です そして地理情報システムを利用し チンパンジーの行動範囲を追っています この種のものは私の専門ではありませんが 衛星を通して この地域の 森林破壊を観察しています 赤外線も便利になりました 夜間に動物の観察ができるし ビデオの性能も良くなり 機材も軽くなり 質も向上しています ですから研究を始めた1960年に出来なかった- 様々なことが今では可能になりました チンパンジーや他の脳が大きい動物の 高次認知機能を 飼育して研究する際には特に 現代の技術が役立っています 今では認められている彼らの能力も 60年代には科学で 絶対に不可能とされていました 研究所にいる一番賢いチンパンジーは 日本にいるアイだと思います 愛という意味です アイには感受性豊かなパートナーがいます アイはコンピュータが大好き 仲間や水や木よりも 好きなんです コンピュータの前に座ると ゲームをする子供のよう ちなみに28歳で タッチパネルの操作は 大多数の人間よりも素早いのです 詳しく伝える時間はないのですが 非常に複雑な課題もこなし 間違えることを嫌います ゲームで高得点が取れないと 実験者がいる部屋のガラスを トントン叩くのです もう一度やらせて とね 既に20分ほど のめり込んでいながら 少しでも良く出来たという満足感のために 最初からやり直したいのです 正解に対するご褒美はレーズン1粒ですが それはアイにとって重要ではありません 事前に言えばご褒美なしでもゲームをします コンピュータを使うチンパンジーですよ! チンパンジー ゴリラ オラウータンは手話も習得します 私が初めてゴンベに行ったのは1960年で 昨日の事のように鮮明に覚えています 初めて野生に足を入れた当時は チンパンジーも警戒していました あまり恐れないのも いましたけどね アリ塚を覆う暗い影が見えたので 双眼鏡で覗いてみたところ なんと 雄チンパンジーのデイビットでした 余談ですが 当時は名前をつけずに 番号をつけるのが普通でした さておき デイビットですが 草を引っこ抜き それを使って巣にいる アリを捕まえていたんです さらにデイビットは小枝を拾っては 葉を取り除いていました 特定の目的に合わせて 物を修正するのは 道具づくりの始まりです その当時 飛躍的な前進として 感激した理由は 道具を作り― 使うのは人間だけだと思われていたからです 私が学生の時 ヒトの定義は道具を作ることでした わが師 ルイス リーキーが言ったんです ”ヒトと道具の再定義をするか― チンパンジーをヒトと見なさなければ” (笑) 現在ではゴンベだけで チンパンジーが道具を 目的別に9通りの使い分けをすると確認されています さらに チンパンジーの研究がされている- アフリカの他の地域においても 道具を使う全く別の習性が確認されています これらのパターンは世代から世代へと 観察 模倣 実践を通じた継承に見えますが それはヒト文化の定義です 40年余りにわたって 私を含む研究者が チンパンジーと他の類人猿 そして複雑な脳と 社会システムを持つ他の哺乳類を 研究して得たのは 結局のところ 人間と他の動物界を隔てる 明白な線は無いということです 非常に曖昧な線なのです 人間のみの能力と 傲慢にも考えられていたものが 違うとわかるたびに境界線は更に曖昧になります 時間の関係上 すべては語れませんが チンパンジーは母親と一緒に寝る- 乳児期が5年あり 更に3~5年は 次の子が生まれても感情面で母親に依存します 行動が柔軟な時期の学習は大切 しかも彼らの社会は学ぶことがいっぱい 長い幼少期を通じて育む― 母や兄弟姉妹との 愛情深い絆は 一生続いていきます 寿命は60年になることも 飼育されている場合は60年以上です 私達は研究を始めてまだ40年 チンパンジーは思いやりがあり利他的行動をとります 彼らの豊富な非言語コミュニケーションでは 多岐に渡って音を使い分けます 触ったり身構えたり ジェスチャーも使います キス 抱擁 手つなぎ 背中をポンと叩く 威張り歩く こぶしを振り回す 人間がやるような事をして その脈絡も同じです 仲間同士の協力も高度です 時に狩りをしますが チームワークは大したもので 捕った獲物も分け合います 人間同様に喜び 悲しみ 恐れ 絶望といった― 感情を持ち合わせ 精神や肉体面の苦しみも わかっています 時間の関係で 詳しくは話せませんが トップクラスの大学では学生が 動物の感情や性格を勉強しています チンパンジーや一部の動物は 鏡に映る姿を自分と認識できます 彼らはユーモアを解し それは もはや人間のみの特権ではありません これはチンパンジーのみならず 地球に共存する― 他の動物に対する敬意を 我々は教えられているのです 人格 心 感情を持つのは 人間だけではないと認めたときに 知覚力を備えた賢い生き物を 人間が利用し 悪用していると気付き始めるのです 私は非常に情けなく感じます やるせないのは 他の生き物以上に 謙虚さ を教えてくれたチンパンジーが 急速に野生から消え去っていること それには理由があり 周知の事実でしょう 森林破壊や人口増加に伴う土地開発 材木産業の皆伐でチンパンジーが 消えつつあります 大手多国籍企業が石油や材木目当てに 道路を開発したのが原因でチンパンジーがアフリカの 生息地域中心部から消えており エクアドルや その他の原生林でも 同じ事をしようとしています 更に コンゴ盆地や他の地域のブッシュミート取引の 引き金にもなりました 何百年から何千年と 森と調和しながら生活してきた人々が 自らの生活のために動物を 殺しています 道路が出来たために突然 猟師が街から来て ネズミより大きく 動くものは何でも仕留め 天日干しか燻製にします 材木や採鉱用のトラックに 便乗して街に運んで売るわけです ブッシュミートは飼育された肉より好まれるので 高値で売れるのです 持続不可能です 肉目当ての人間が増加し コンゴ盆地に住むピグミー族の 何百年もの歴史ある生活は 壊されてしまいました 売買人に代わり猟をして対価を受け取る 彼らの生活を支える動物と共に 文化も破壊されているのです しまいには何も残りません 人間文化多様性の喪失は既に話しました 私は目の当たりにしました 私の大好きなアフリカは 悲惨な光景です 森林破壊 砂漠の拡大 飢餓 病気の蔓延 人口増加 土地が支えられる以上に人口が 増えてしまった所では 貧しすぎて食糧も賄えない 昨日聴いた 最後の木を切り倒した― イースター島の人は愚か者? 状況を理解していなかった? 世界に存在する壊滅的な貧困を 体験すれば 明日の為に 木を残そう とは言ってられません 今日食べる物さえ無い状態 この最後の木を売ってお金に変えれば 少しでも生き延びられるはず あとは祈って何かを待つだけ 死から遠のくために… こんなに残酷なんです 我々が併せ持ち チンパンジーや他の生き物と 違うと言い切れるのは この高度な話し言葉です 子ども達に身近にない物事を 伝えられる言葉です ずっと昔から遠い未来の話まで お互いに意見交換して 大勢の知恵から認識を高められます それには会話が必要 ビデオや書き言葉でもいいでしょう なのに我々は この偉大な力を正しく使わずに 世界を壊しています 先進国では なお悪い 愚かな行動を犯す知識を 持ち過ぎているのです 赤ちゃんが生まれてきても きれいな水がない場所が世界には多く 空気や汚染された土壌から取れた食べ物で 赤ちゃんを汚染しています これは途上国だけの話ではありません 50年前に無かった約50種類の 化学物質が我々の体内にあることはご存知? 有害廃棄物のゴミ捨て場周辺では 喘息のような病気や 癌になる人が増加しています 我々は世界中で動物や自然や 我々自身を傷つけています 母なる大自然 精神的発達を手助けしてくれる- 木 花 鳥がいる自然で 過ごす時間が大切なんです それなのに先進国ではあまりにも多くの 子どもが自然に触れることもなく コンクリートの中で育ち 知っているのはバーチャル世界 太陽の恵みを受ける機会もありません 木漏れ日の下で 森林浴をすることもない 世界中を回るために 大好きな森を後にしました 学生や現場スタッフが研究を続けられるよう 大好きなチンパンジーを後にしなくてはならなかった チンパンジーが100年前の200万頭から 15万頭まで減少したことで 世界中の意識を高めるために 森林を後にするしかなかったのです チンパンジーの窮状を知れば知るほど 全てが連結していることに気がつきました 途上国が抱える問題は 先進国の傲慢さに起因して こんな事態を引き起こしています こんなの馬鹿げています おかしいでしょう? 昨日も聞きましたね 私は世界中で望みを失くした若者を見てきました 絶望にまみれた若者は “何やったって同じだよ 今を楽しまなきゃ どうせ明日は死ぬんだから” 怒りにまみれている人間が 暴力的になるのも知っています 珍しいことではありません 私には小さな孫が3人います ある時 学生が私に言いました “頭にくるよ” “僕らの将来は- 大人が台無しにしたせいで 望みなんてないんだから” 私は孫の目を見て 思うのです この長い間に地球をずいぶん傷つけてしまった そんな思いがあって1991年にタンザニアで ルーツ&シューツという活動を始めました 会場の外に冊子を用意してますから 子どもたちの将来を気にかけて下さるなら どうぞお手に取って見てください ルーツ&シューツは希望の活動です ルーツ(根)は基盤 シューツ(若枝)は小さいけれど 日光に向かってレンガをも突き抜けます レンガは地球に存在する- すべての問題と見なせば 希望を持てる意味があるでしょう 何千人もの若者が世界中で レンガを突き破って より良い世界を作るのです そして 何より大切なメッセージは 皆それぞれが違いを生み出すこと 誰もが役割が持っています 毎日誰もが影響を及ぼしています 例えば 一日中寝てたとしても 酸素を吸って 二酸化炭素を はき出すし トイレにも 行くでしょう 皆が世界を変えているのです ルーツ&シューツでは若者と共に 3つの活動をしています 地域レベルで向上をはかる活動です 1つめは 身近な地域社会に気をかけること 2つめは 家畜を含む動物への配慮 私の場合 研究を始めるずっと前に 動物行動の大事なことは みんな 愛犬ラスティにおそわりました 3つめは 地域環境に関してです 環境と無関係に生きることは出来ません 幼稚園から大学まで 都会でも田舎でも 裕福でも貧しくても関係あるのです 場所によって問題は違います フロリダでの問題は ニューヨークとは違う 国によっても違う 5千ものグループが60ヶ国以上の あらゆる場所で活動をしていて 参加している子ども達が 活動を広めています なぜでしょう? 主役は彼らで 活動内容を決めるのも彼らです 親や教師に言われて やることではありません 自発的に始めるから効果があります “川をきれいにして 魚を川に返したい 有害物質を取り除いて 有機農園を作りたい お年寄りと話をして 歴史を記録に残したい ドッグシェルターでボランティア 動物の勉強がしたい” アイディアは尽きず 希望を感じます 私は年間300日 世界を回り 至る所で 様々なルーツ&シューツボランティアに会います 各地で目を輝かせた子たちが “この成果を見て” と言います 科学技術も一役買っています ネットでコミュニケーションが取れるので 世界中の子ども達が交流できます アイディアは豊富にあるけれど 若者が情熱を分かち合える適切な ネットワークづくりに協力が必要です 忘れてならないのは 問題も起こります “うまくいかない どうしたらいい?” アメリカやイスラエルや世界各地の 子ども達が助言し合います “こうしたら上手くいくはずだよ” とね 信念は至ってシンプル 暴力を容認しないこと 暴力 爆弾 銃はあってはならない 問題解決につながりません 暴力は暴力を生む 私の意見ではね じゃあ どうすれば? 問題解決には知識と理解を使いましょう 真相と関わり合いを見る事です 勤勉と忍耐 あきらめない あらゆる命を敬う愛と思いやり あと何分? 1~2分 2分もらうわ (笑) ステージから引きづり下ろす? (笑) とにかく ルーツ&シューツは 若者の生活に変化をもたらしていて 私は全身全霊を注いでいます TEDのような団体の影響力は大きいと信じています 技術を共有できるからではなく 子どもがいる方が多いから 皆が実践してくれれば 子ども達にも伝わって 子ども達も私たちにならってくれる 後ろ姿を見せましょう 我々の世界を良くしようとする気配りの 影響力の大きさは明確です 大きな励みです 子ども達に尋ねられます すぐ終わらせますから “将来への望みはある? 世界中の酷い事実を見てきたでしょ” 人間の脳に関してはコメントしません 表面化した世界の問題点は 人間の脳が責任を持ちましょう 既に話した内容です 次は 自然の回復力 我々は破壊する力もあれば 修復する力だってある 荒れ果てた土地だって 時間と援助があれば 元気になるんです 先ほど ある方が不屈の精神について 話をされましたが 我々は不可能を可能にする― 偉大な人に囲まれているんです これはマンデラが 27年収容された 刑務所からの石ですが 彼は 釈放後 暴力を行使せず アパルトヘイトの恐怖から 人々を解放しました 同時多発テロの後 ニューヨークにいた私は 恐怖を感じましたが それでもなお そこには人々の勇気 愛や思いやりが溢れていました その後 アメリカを回った時 環境どころではない という恐怖を 人々の中に感じました 愛する国のために 私は励ましたかった ある人が言ったガンディーの明言です “歴史上 どんな邪悪な体制も 正義で乗り越えてきた” ある女性が “希望と平和を語る時に 鳴らして” と私にくれた― この鈴を鳴らして終わります これは歴史に残る暴君の一人 ポルポト支配下 虐殺が行われた刑場から 取り除かれた地雷で作ったものです そこでは政権崩壊後に人々が 生活を取り戻しつつあります 希望とはどこにあるのでしょう? 政治家が握っているのですか? 我々の手中です あなたや私の手の中です そして子ども達です 私達次第です 変化をもたらすのは私達です 環境にダメージを出来るだけ出さない― 生活を意識して 道徳的に正しい買い物をし そうじゃない商品は購入しなければ 世界は一晩で変えられます ありがとう