In celebration of Earth Day, Disneynature is releasing its latest true-life adventure called CHIMPANZEE. The film follows Oscar, a young chimpanzee with an entertaining approach to life who overcomes several obstacles. More than just an entertaining movie, it’s also an opportunity for you to learn more about chimpanzees, and ultimately play a role in their conservation.
The Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) has long history of using geospatial technology to help conserve chimpanzee habitat and support surrounding communities. Dr. Lilian Pintea, JGI’s Director of Conservation Science, explained their approach at the recent Eye on Earth Summit:
“Very early we understood that the problem with chimpanzee habitats is that human landscapes are not sustainable. They’re out of balance. We also understood that there is a direct connection between the loss of chimpanzee habitats and the loss of ecosystem function supporting livelihoods. Deforestation led not only to the loss of chimpanzee habitats but also to flash floods, erosion, and ultimately, destruction of water sources so important for people.
“It’s impossible to expect that sustainable landscapes can happen by accident. Today we have to actively design these landscapes in order to be sustainable. And this is why JGI has been using a community-centered conservation approach together with GIS for remote sensing, to better design and help local community develop village land-use plans.”
Disneynature’s CHIMPANZEE is in theaters April 20th, 2012. Esri encourages you to watch the movie so you can experience for yourself the beauty and intelligence of the magnificent creatures.
And you can also help conserve chimpanzees by seeing the movie. For every moviegoer who sees CHIMPANZEE during the film’s opening week (April 20-26, 2012), Disneynature will make a donation to the Jane Goodall Institute to help protect chimpanzees and their habitat. The funds raised through this conservation program, will support work in and around JGI’s Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Center located within the Tchimpounga Nature Reserve in the Republic of Congo. If you would like to learn more about the conservation program, visit http://www.janegoodall.org/chimpanzee-movie.