Honouring Jane Goodall and Protecting Mangroves

SEPTEMBER 2025

“Every individual matters. Every individual has a role to play. Every individual makes a difference.”
- Dame Jane Goodall

Dear John,

Like many of you, we have been deeply saddened by the passing of our irreplaceable patron, Dame Jane Goodall.

Over her 65-year career, Jane Goodall redefined the way we all understand humanity’s place in nature. Through compassion, research and commitment to truth, she dismantled the idea of human exceptionalism and showed us that humans are part of, not separate from, the living world around us.

This recognition of interconnectedness is at the very heart of our vision: a world in which our human population lives fairly and sustainably with nature and each other.

Even with her awareness of the pressures the natural world faces, Dame Jane Goodall remained committed to hope. She believed that every individual action matters, and that through empathy and understanding we can create a thriving planet for all species. That commitment to hope will guide us as we honour her legacy through our continued work.

- The PM team

Photo of Jane Goodall © Stuart Clarke

Read our tribute to Jane Goodall's remarkable life and legacy

IN THE NEWS

Wild Summit

"Without healthy nature, our communities, our economy, can't thrive."

Mary Creagh, Under-Secretary DEFRA

The first-ever Wild Summit took place in Bristol in September, bringing together more than 1,000 people to share insights and solutions for the UK’s environmental challenges.

Experts and campaigners, including Hugh Fearnley- Whittingstall, highlighted the connection between the UK’s depletion of nature and our patterns of consumption, stressing the need for both individual action and bold government policies. We attended and shared our thoughts on what this means for bringing conversations about population into the mainstream.

ONS Figures

The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics released this month show the UK’s population has reached a record 69.3 million people.

These numbers matter: the average UK resident produces 11 times more CO₂ every year than someone living in Nigeria, while one in six British wildlife species faces extinction due to the pressures of intensive farming and urban expansion.

The figures are a wake-up call. We need to prioritise reducing our levels of consumption if we want to protect the natural world.

Try our interactive consumption tools

OUR PARTNERS

Empower to Plan - SEED

We’re excited to launch the first of our new Empower to Plan partnerships!

Mangroves are essential for protecting coastlines, supporting marine life and filtering water supplies - but in Sierra Leone’s coastal Bonthe District, they’re being cleared at an alarming rate. 25% of Sierra Leone’s mangrove forests have been destroyed in the last 35 years.

That’s where our new partner, SEED, come in. Based in local villages, they’re supporting communities across the district with mangrove protection, reproductive health education and training in sustainable alternative to mangrove use – to ensure the future protection of these essential natural climate barriers.

COMING UP

Here’s what we’ve got planned for October:

We’ll be attending the IUCN World Conservation Congress- a once every four years gathering of nature conservation experts, leaders and global decision makers

Sharing insights from our recent workshops in Nigeria, where we brought together policy makers and advocates to drive change.

Continuing work inspired by Dame Jane Goodall’s extraordinary legacy - and sharing the impacts

Spotlighting our supporters’ incredible fundraising efforts for Population Matters.

Thank you for being part of this community. Together, we’re keeping hope alive and building the fair, sustainable world Jane Goodall believed in.

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