Jane Goodall Institute (Singapore)

## Summary

The Jane Goodall Institute (Singapore) or JGIS is the local chapter of the organisation founded by Dr. Jane Goodall to empower people to make a difference for all living things. JGIS is a registered charity in Singapore (UEN T07SS0157J) with a registered address at 475 River Valley Road #02-04, Singapore 248360.

The Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) is a global nonprofit focused on inspiring individual action to improve the understanding, welfare and conservation of the environment, its wildlife and to safeguard the planet we all share. JGI Singapore (JGIS) was founded in 2007 to continue Dr. Jane’s work in Singapore.

## Mission

Inspire, educate, and activate individuals to make a better world for animals, people and the environment

## Vision

People living in harmony with nature and animals

## Initiatives

JGIS believes everyone can make a difference once they have the relevant knowledge and are inspired to take action.

Their goal is to nurture the next generation of ‘Jane Goodalls’ by empowering and inspiring people to take action by:

* Empowering young people to make positive change through our Roots & Shoots programme in schools in Singapore
* Advocating for local primate species through education and conservation
* Educating the public about animals and the environment so that we can live harmoniously with wildlife and nature

### **Roots and Shoots:**

Roots & Shoots (R&S) is a global environmental, animal welfare, and humanitarian youth outreach programme in 110 countries. R&S empowers young people to do their part in solving human, animal welfare, and environmental problems in their communities.

R&S gives the younger generation a platform to help solve problems around them through projects incorporating leadership and project management skills. This gives the young individuals confidence as they realise that they can make a positive difference to people, animals and the environment and, ultimately, the planet.

As a unique global youth network, R&S offers local students access to an international web of like-minded young people. The R&S groups in Singapore have the chance to connect with 8000 other groups around the world to share their experiences and build partnerships through cultural exchange.

### **Primate Programmes:**

#### **Raffles’ Banded Langur:**

Raffles’ Banded Langur Working Group (RBLWG):

The RBLWG was formed in August 2016 with representatives from the Jane Goodall Institute (Singapore), Wildlife Reserves Singapore, National University of Singapore, National Parks Board, Nature Society (Singapore), and also universities and agencies from Malaysia.

The goals of the RBLWG are to:

* Ensure that langur habitats are protected and restored
* Gather data through long-term research
* Secure resources and commitment for their conservation in Singapore and Malaysia

JGIS is currently helping to coordinate and manage citizen science surveys for the Raffles’ banded langurs. For more information about our work, visit the Raffles’ Banded Langur Working Group Facebook page

Raffles’ Banded Langur Citizen Science Programme:

As part of JGIS's efforts to conserve the Raffles’ banded langur, JGIS has been organising population and ecological surveys to help us learn more about the langurs.

JGIS recruits volunteers to help conduct these surveys in two shifts (morning and afternoon) every weekend (Saturday and Sunday). Each batch of Citizen Scientists volunteer for a six-month duration, during which they are required to conduct at least one survey.

Data from these surveys are collated and analysed in reports and publications which are used to inform conservation policies and strategies to help the Raffles’ banded langurs.

For opportunities to get involved, keep an eye on their Volunteer page and stay tuned to their Events page for upcoming briefings.

#### **Long-tailed Macaque**

Long-tailed Macaque Working Group:

The Long-tailed Macaque Working Group was formed in September 2017, with Dr Jane gracing its first meeting. The Working Group comprises members from the Jane Goodall Institute (Singapore), National Parks Board, Wildlife Reserves Singapore, Animal Concerns Research and Education Society, National University of Singapore, Land Transport Authority, Housing and Development Board, Singapore Land Authority and Public Utilities Board, with the hope that more relevant agencies will come on board.

The Working Group aims to provide effective solutions to address the human-macaque tension in Singapore and to raise appreciation of our native monkeys.

No Feeding Campaign:

During the first Long-tailed Macaque Working Group meeting in 2017, Dr Jane Goodall, who was visiting at the time, stated that macaques were intelligent and social animals and that, “If every single person in Singapore did not feed macaques for three years, the human-macaque issue would be resolved. Juvenile macaques will learn only to feed from the forest”.

With this in mind, JGIS, in partnership with the LTMWG, launched a “No Feeding Campaign” targeted at long-tailed macaques. It is hoped that the campaign will also help resolve wider human-wildlife conflict with other urban wildlife, like wild pigs. On 26 November 2019, Mr. Desmond Lee, Minister for Social and Family Development and Second Minister for National Development, announced the launch of the “No Feeding Campaign” during the JGIS ConservAction Week when Dr. Jane Goodall was again in Singapore.

The “No Feeding Campaign” aims at stopping the provision of food to macaques across Singapore within three years, through education and outreach activities like talks by our Wildlife Ambassadors and Monkey Walks, targeted research through a long-tailed macaque citizen science programme called the Monkey Scouts, and a Monkey Guards programme.

**Education and outreach**

Through our Monkey Walk programme where we bring members of the public to observe long-tailed macaques in the wild, we will educate members of the public about their ecology and how best to live harmoniously alongside them. Talks will be held at schools, community centres and at condominiums that have monkeys sharing their space, with the aim of educating the public about monkeys and inspiring them to make a positive difference so as to live in harmony with monkeys in their neighbourhood.

**Research and action**

A map of human-macaque conflict hotspots will be generated through the collective efforts within the LTMWG, using data generated by university research as well as calls received by ACRES and NParks relating to macaque-related incidents. A new JGIS-led citizen science programme called Monkey Scouts will supplement these efforts to make sense of where human-macaque interactions occur, and possibly why.

Teams of trained JGIS Monkey Guards will be dispatched regularly to areas identified in the map to carry out education and monkey guarding activities. Infographics and advice on appropriate human behaviours when encountering macaques (such as no feeding, keeping plastic bags away, and maintaining a safe distance) will be provided to the public.

In residential areas or eateries near forests where macaques congregate, simple methods to secure outdoor waste bins (such as using bungee cords) will be shared with owners. Monkey Guards will also monitor the conflict situation on the ground and, where needed, will prevent macaques from entering houses or restaurants and safely guide the macaques back into the forests. In order to track the success of the campaign, JGIS will conduct surveys on public perception of macaques.

Assessment of existing situations of human-macaque conflicts will be carried out at the beginning, middle and end of the campaign. JGIS expects that the “No Feeding Campaign” will significantly reduce or even fully resolve conflicts between humans and macaques, leading to a greater appreciation of our native urban wildlife so that we can all coexist in harmony in Singapore.

Long-tailed Macaque Citizen Science Programme:

The Long-tailed Macaque Citizen Science Programme aims to empower people from all backgrounds and academic qualifications to contribute to scientific research.

As a citizen scientist, or Monkey Scout, you will be working with other passionate and like-minded volunteers to collect location-based data on human-macaque interactions at various macaque ‘hotspots’ in Singapore.

Your contribution would help JGIS in research we are conducting as an integral part of our three-year ‘No Feeding Campaign’, as well as go a long way in informing how we allocate resources for Monkey Guarding to hotspots where human-macaque conflict is the most serious.

JGIS recruits volunteers to help us conduct these surveys in two shifts (morning and afternoon) on various weekdays and weekends. Each batch of Monkey Scouts volunteer for a six-month duration, during which they are required to conduct at least two surveys.

Wildlife Ambassadors:

JGIS intends to hold educational talks at schools, community centres, and condominiums where macaques are also frequently sighted. The aim of this programme is to educate the public about monkeys and inspire them to make a positive difference so as to live in harmony with monkeys in their neighbourhood. Also, this programme serves as a platform to raise awareness of our ‘No Feeding Campaign’, which aims to stop monkey feeding.

Monkey Guards:

Macaques found to be in conflict with humans used to be trapped and culled. But this practice has proven to be ineffective and cost-intensive, as removing the monkey each time an incident happens opens up an opportunity for another monkey, and does not address the root of the problem.

The Jane Goodall Institute (Singapore) believes that our Monkey Guards Programme provides an alternative, effective, and humane solution to the problem.

JGIS believes that human-wildlife conflict management strategies should focus on promoting positive human etiquette around macaques in order to ensure long-term human-macaque coexistence.

Monkey guarding is a wildlife management technique that aims to deter macaques from negative behaviors such as foraging for human food within residential areas.

Since 2018, their Monkey Guards have been striving to educate residents on how to behave appropriately in the presence of macaques, and have also assisted in guiding macaques safely away from residential areas and back to the forest edge.

Monkey Guards station themselves at the macaques’ usual point of entry and herd the macaques away by waving a stick, hitting it on the ground to create noise, or by raising their voices to deter macaques from approaching. Their constant presence and use of tools are a negative reinforcement, discouraging the macaques from entering the premises.

Over time, this negative reinforcement influences the bolder and dominant macaques, and when they are denied entry, the rest of the troop will be naturally deterred from trying.

Because macaques are forest edge-dwellers and will inevitably cross paths with people in the ‘urban jungles’ of Singapore, the intention of monkey guarding is not to eliminate sightings of macaques, but to create a safe and respectful barrier between people and macaques, such that both species can go about their daily lives without bothering the other.

Monkey Walks:
You have probably seen a macaque in Singapore before—but have you been into the forest and observed them in their natural habitat? How much do you really know about them? There is so much to learn and understand about Singapore’s primates- the long-tailed macaque, the Sunda slow loris, and Raffles’ banded langur. There is no better way to explore than joining ‘A Walk With Our Neighbours’, otherwise affectionately known as a ‘Monkey Walk’.

Bukit Timah, MacRitchie, and Lower Peirce Reservoir are the locations for JGIS's Monkey Walks. Their dedicated Monkey Walkers have been expertly trained by primatologists, and will guide you through the forest and answer your questions about our resident primates!

JGIS has been tracking and observing macaque troops as part of our Monkey Guards programme since June 2018. We know the troops’ behaviour, when they are most active, and we know where we can usually find them.

### **Storytelling Sessions:**

The Jane Goodall Institute (Singapore) Storytelling Project brings to life vividly told stories about local primates and wildlife and their ecosystems. From children’s books written by students at Raffles Institute’s Biodiversity Program, we’ve created interactive plays about local wildlife such as Po, the baby Raffles Banded Langur and his friends, to marine life including a growing hermit crab and other sea creatures who benefit from a cleanup at Changi Beach.

JGIS's team of trained storytellers are passionate about educating youth about their role in protecting Singaporean wildlife and the environment. Each session includes a short creative workshop in which children have the opportunity to write, draw, craft or tell their own imagined stories about wildlife and come up with solutions for the problems they face, such as pollution or loss of habitat.

JGIS gives every child the opportunity to share their stories onstage or online, and hope to adapt some of their stories into future performances.

### **Other Events**

JGIS Lecture Series:

The JGIS Lecture Series is an ongoing educational program that brings primate researchers and conservation experts from around the world to Singapore to share their insight and knowledge with members of the public. Launched in 2017, the series has welcomed speakers from countries as nearby as Malaysia and as far-flung as Tanzania.

JGIS ConservAction Conference:

Launched during Dr. Jane Goodall’s visit to Singapore in 2019, ConservAction promotes and celebrates conservation through individual actions. Under the ConservAction umbrella, the biennial JGIS ConservAction Conference is a cornerstone event whose mission is to bring together primatologists from around Asia to share their latest research and insight with each other as well as with the public.

Festival of Biodiversity:

JGIS is a regular participant at the annual Festival of Biodiversity organized by the National Parks Board. At our booth, attendees of the festival can take part in games and other activities to learn more about the primate species of Singapore and what JGIS does to conserve them.

International Primate Day:

To commemorate International Primate Day every September, JGIS organises a special event that celebrates our local primates.

For International Primate Day 2019, they organised a full day of events, both outdoors and indoors! In the morning, small groups of participants were led by the JGIS Monkey Guards around various macaque ‘hotspots’ in Central Catchment Nature Reserve.

Everyone then convened at Singapore Botanic Gardens to share their insights into the human-macaque interactions they observed, and to discuss ways in which parkgoers’ experiences with macaques can be improved.

After lunchtime, participants were invited to an educational talk on human-macaque coexistence by primate researcher Sabrina Jabbar at the Botanics Garden Function Hall.

## Get in Touch

Sign up to be a volunteer: https://janegoodall.org.sg/get-involved/volunteer-opportunities/

Other Enquiries: https://janegoodall.org.sg/contact/

Email: [[1]]

## References

1. ↑ About Us, Jane Goodall Institute (Singapore), https://janegoodall.org.sg/about-us/, Accessed on 18 Oct 2020
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Our Vision & Mission, Jane Goodall Institute (Singapore), https://janegoodall.org.sg/about-us/our-vision-mission/ Accessed on 18 Oct 2020
3. ↑ Roots & Shoots, Jane Goodall Institute (Singapore), https://janegoodall.org.sg/our-programmes-and-campaigns/roots-and-shoots/ Accessed on 18 Oct 2020
4. ↑ Raffles' Banded Langur, Jane Goodall Institute (Singapore), https://janegoodall.org.sg/our-programmes-and-campaigns/primate-programmes/raffles-banded-langur/ Accessed on 18 Oct 2020
5. ↑ Long-tailed Macaque, Jane Goodall Institute (Singapore),https://janegoodall.org.sg/our-programmes-and-campaigns/primate-programmes/long-tailed-macaque/, Accessed on 18 Oct 2020
6. ↑ Storytelling Sessions, Jane Goodall Institute (Singapore), https://janegoodall.org.sg/our-programmes-and-campaigns/primate-programmes/storytelling-sessions/ Accessed on 18 Oct 2020
7. ↑ Events, Jane Goodall Institute (Singapore), https://janegoodall.org.sg/our-programmes-and-campaigns/events/, Accessed on 18 Oct 2020
8. ↑ Contact, Jane Goodall Institute (Singapore),https://janegoodall.org.sg/contact/ Accessed on 18 Oct 2020