Roots & Shoots is an international hands-on environmental and humanitarian education program that is about making positive change happen — for our communities, for animals and for the environment. Started in 1991 by Dr. Jane Goodall and a group of Tanzanian students who wanted to make a difference in their community, R&S is now a growing global program based on the principle that everyone has the ability to bring about change.

Members of the R&S network implement service learning style projects based on their own ideas and concerns, and at the same time develop leadership skills and a stronger sense of environmental stewardship. An independent evaluation of the impact of the R&S Program in China, conducted in the spring of 2007 by a group of Masters’ students from Columbia University, concluded that over seven years of operation, Roots & Shoots has helped strengthen participants’ “confidence level regarding environment-related knowledge,” as well as changed participants’ “attitude and behavior towards the environment”. Thanks to Roots & Shoots programs, members were “optimistic and confident…that the initiatives they took in their daily lives to address environmental issues would result in an overall positive impact on their local environment.”

There are now over 400 R&S groups around China; and all of them are based on a spirit of volunteerism, demonstrating that individuals can make a difference through active participation. For more information about the Roots & Shoots Program in China and upcoming events, please visit the local office’s website at:

Root & Shoots Beijing Office: http://www.genyuya.org.cn

Root & Shoots Shanghai Office: http://www.jgi-shanghai.org

Root & Shoots Chengdu Office: http://cdgyy.org

Root & Shoots Nanchang Office: http://www.jgi-nanchang.org