More than 300 students from primary and middle schools and universities gathered in Beijing to celebrate "Roots and Shoots Day" on Saturday.

The Roots and Shoots youth program, initiated by Goodall in Tanzania in 1991, is designed to involve children and teenagers in hands-on activities that promote care and concern for the environment, animals and communities.

At Saturday's event, some 30 Roots and Shoots teams from Beijing, Tianjin and other provinces demonstrated their achievements through pictures and demonstrations.

Pupils from the Beijing Chuiyangliu No 2 Primary School exhibited their record of observing the activities of animals living around a big tree near their school over the past year.

They watched magpies, woodpeckers and squirrels build nests and gather food on the branches of the tree. They also found ladybugs on the leaves, stinkbugs and several kinds of unknown caterpillars, their report said.

Through observation, the pupils said they learned that birds, insects, reptiles and other plants and animals live interdependently. If one of them suffered any damage, other species would be affected.

"In a more general picture, human beings, animals and plants are also dependent on each other," said the team leader of the group. "We need to create and protect free and safe surroundings for plants and animals, so that human beings can live a better life with them."

The Roots and Shoots program currently has over 4,000 groups in 69 countries throughout the world. Through constructive activities, the participants have become more aware of how their actions affect their local community and the environment as a whole, teachers said.

It also promotes understanding between individuals from different nations, cultures, and ethnic groups, Goodall said. She was named as a Messenger of Peace by the United Nations this April.

Goodall spends over 300 days a year touring the world, giving lectures and raising awareness for environment protection.

As one of the most legendary people of the 20th century, Goodall, who was born in the United Kingdom, traveled to Africa in her 20s to study chimpanzees for long periods of time alone in their isolated forest habitat. She is known as the "Mother of Chimpanzees."

(China Daily November 25, 2002)