Kathmandu, November 4:

Jane Goodall, the UN Messenger for Peace and world renowned primatalogist, ethologist and anthropologist, said it was ‘unethical’ and ‘inhumane’ to capture innocent animals and treat them in most ‘inhumane’ manner for drug testing, which is carried out in the name of medical science.

At present, in Nepal, two labs - in Lele and Lamatar in Bhaktapur - funded by the Washington University and Texas federal government are running such tests on monkeys captured mainly from Dhadhing and Hetauda Goodall said, “Human welfare and animal welfare are interlinked. When environment is destroyed it affects the both.”

Goodall is also advocating environmentally sustainable projects and micro-credit loans in rural areas, especially for the people living near the conservation parks.

Goodall, who is in the capital to advocate and promote her global youth programme on nature conservation named Roots and Shoots, is best-known for her study of chimpanzee social and family life in Gombe Stream National Park, Africa, for 45 years, and for founding the Jane Goodall Institute that is widely recognised for innovative, community-centred conservation and development programmes in Africa. Goodall has received many honours for her environmental and humanitarian work. She was named a Dame Commander of the British Empire in 2004. In April 2002, Secretary-General Kofi Annan named her a UN Messenger of Peace. Her other awards include the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement, the French Legion of Honour, Medal of Tanzania, Kyoto Prize, the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Science, and the Gandhi-King Award for Non-violence. She is also a member of the advisory board of BBC Wildlife magazine.

She said she wishes to raise awareness among the youths on the urgency to take immediate steps in protecting the environment. She said that she is lobbying for America to sign the Kyoto Protocol. “The US has done so much to pollute the world. It has to stop now.”

Meanwhile, addressing a gathering of social entrepreneurs, held by the Lotus Holdings in the capital today, she laid stress on the importance of corporate social responsibilities in removing poverty.