Join Dr Jane Goodall online to celebrate Darwin Day!

By Aoife Glass

Posted on November 10th, 2023.

Join Dr Jane Goodall and a selection of the world’s top conservationists to celebrate Darwin Day 2023!

Darwin Day takes place on November 12th, and celebrates the birthday of Charles Darwin. Darwin is one of the most significant figures in natural sciences; his work ‘On the Origin of Species’ put forward the theory of evolution through natural selection, and laid the groundwork for much of how we understand the natural world – and the pressures human’s put on it – today.

As a young man he sailed the world as a naturalist on the HMS Beagle, visiting places like the Canary Islands, Madeira, and all across South America. He was 22 years old when he first stepped food in Brazil, near Rio de Janeiro. Throughout the voyage, his observations and studies gave him an incredible understanding of the diverse variety of life on Earth.

Watch online

A portrait of Charles Darwin

Join Darwin Day online

This November 12th, you can join some of the world’s top conservationists for a whole day of virtual events to celebrate Darwin’s birthday. Join Dr Jane Goodall, Sylvia Earle, Sarah Darwin and more, with the celebrations beamed live from the Atlantic rainforest of Rio de Janiero.

All the events will be broadcast in English with Portuguese subtitles, and you can preregister for reminders and access.

The event starts at 4pm UAE time, and runs until the evening. Join for one session, a few, or all of them! You can log on to watch at any time, via the Darwin Day event YouTube stream.

World-renowned conservationists Sarah Darwin, Dr Jane Goodall and Sylvia Earle

Darwin Day schedule

Watch online

4pm UAE time: Welcome by Joe Grabowski, Sarah Darwin and Stewart McPherson, and overview of today’s programme

4:10 pm UAE time: Saving the engendered golden lion tamarin by conservationist Luis Paulo Ferraz, with live question and answer session.

4:30 pm UAE time: Kahoot quiz about golden lion tamarins – five * US $50 Amazon gift vouchers to be won! Take part for your chance to win!

4:40 pm UAE time: Darwin Leaders present their conservation projects. Each leader and their Brazilian conservation partners have twenty minutes to show a film about their project, undertake a short photo presentation and have a live questions and answers session with the audience. This segment will cover:

• Jessica Tax (Netherlands): Conservation of the Atlantic Rainforest
• Joseph Roy (India): Reintroduction of howler monkeys
• Juliet de Rozario (France): Conservation of Guyana dolphins
• Caila Quirgas (Chile): Conservation of Rio de Janeiro’s reef ecosystems
• Karen Brewer (Venezuela): Conservation of golden lion tamarins

A modern-day version of the HMS Beagle sails into Rio de Janeiro

6:40 pm UAE time: Iro Fokianou and Lorimer Macandrew present a film and presentation about their biodiversity transect in primary, secondary and replanted forest types in the Atlantic Rainforest. Find out why planting trees is so important!

7 pm UAE time: Retired NASA astronaut Col. Terry W. Virts provides his perspective on seeing our fragile planet Earth from his travels aboard the space shuttle and the International Space Station.

7:30 pm UAE time: Acclaimed National Geographic photographer and Niko Ambassador Ami Vitale lectures on observing and photographing species on the brink of extinction, and what we can do to save critically endangered wildlife.

8 pm UAE time: World-renowned ethologist and conservationist, Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE will share her reasons for hope and encourage us all to make a better world for people, animals and the environment we share.

9 pm UAE time: Sarah Darwin reflects on the change and impact to our planet since her great-great-grandfather Charles Darwin voyaged around the world.

9:30 pm UAE time: DARWIN200 project leader Stewart McPherson presents a summary of the past week’s effort planting trees in the Atlantic rainforest!

10:00 pm UAE time: Philippe Cousteau, ocean conservationist, founder of EarthEcho International and grandson of Jacques Cousteau, speaks about protecting marine ecosystems and activating youth.

10:30 pm UAE time: Explorer Paul Rose and the National Geographic Pristine Seas Team join us from the team’s expedition vessel in the Federated State of Micronesia to discuss protecting our remaining pristine ocean.

11:00 pm UAE time: Project Tamar’s Nina dei Marcovaldi gives an overview of sea turtle conservation in Brazil, and an inspiring message of the possibility of inter-generational change.

11:15 pm UAE time: Fourth Element’s Rannva Joermundsson presents a summary of the DARWIN200 coral reef survey in Fernando de Noronha.

11:30 pm UAE time: World-renowned marine biologist Dr. Sylvia Earle offers her perspective concerning what we all can do to make a better future for nature.

Close: Our hosts at the Association of the Golden Lion Tamarin conclude Darwin Day with a lecture concerning the importance of conserving the Atlantic Rainforest, and future plans for planting trees and building corridors. The results of our week-long Kickstarter campaign to raise money to plant further trees are announces.

Watch online