Autumn arrives with the sad loss of a great and truly inspiring woman, Dame Dr Jane Goodall, aged 91. To say hers was a life well lived or that she made an impact are gross understatements. Like many, my social media feed has been alive with shared messages of tribute, photos and video clips.

Most of us will be forgotten within a generation, a few, and not always the best, become part of history. Jane became a legend in her lifetime and its hoped will be remembered for generations. Why? She was just an ordinary woman? That in itself is a thing… she discovered tool creation and use in chimpanzees and their emotions and social structure and did so without being a qualified scientist or a man! Both of which meant she had to face derision, sexism and scepticism. However, with her character and some supporters, gained a PhD (without having an undergrad degree), used the fact she was photogenic and promoted chimpanzees to the limelight and became a “celebrity”.

For me, its not the ground-breaking and painstaking work studying chimps and reporting on it – as much as that was so significant and important – it’s her character, passion and enthusiasm and the work that she developed after – connecting people to nature, especially young people and being a UN Messenger for Peace. Her focus on ‘hope’ is a message we can take in many situations. The Roots and Shoots movement she founded literally put down roots and grew and will continue to thrive across the world.

I was among many that were fortunate to meet her as well as hear her talk. In the several meetings I had it was clear that she was interested, cared, understood that her voice was important and powerful and inspiring, and she genuinely believed in the power of the individual and simple action. On one occasion she signed my penguin copy of ‘Through a Window’ and I got and embrace and kiss after showing her the work I had led on creating the interpretation story for ‘Budongo Trail’ chimpanzee house at Edinburgh Zoo. (This actually featured a tool-use exhibit using some of her National Geographic film).

I also remember how her ‘keynote guest talk’ at the International Primate Society congress in Entebbe Uganda was cut into two by arrival of President Musevni and she shone through that with professionalism and humour, as well as uncompromising comment on environmental matters.

Another aspect of Jane’s life that I reflect upon is the concept of ‘retirement’. She worked right until the end, indeed the ‘world’ was her home as she spent so little time based ‘at home’ (300+ days a year attending events, lectures etc). This was because she felt she could still make a difference, and indeed her work past ‘retirement’ age was very impactful and effective.

Retirement is something we are told to plan for and in many societies there is state support provided. In UK this means a guaranteed state pension. With our longer lives on average ‘retirement’ can be for well over a decade. Meanwhile, working people contribute to employer pension schemes and build a ‘pot’ of money to live on in retirement and some seem to have an expectation of the same standard of living as when employed… Personally, I will survive quite well on the state pension and my savings as I have never lived beyond my means or had a high salary. When should I retire? Some would say I have already done so. I only work part time and occasional contracts, largely by choice. I can enjoy the outdoors and country around me whilst fit enough to take long walks and hikes.

Over the last few months I have been very busy, a lot of this has been focused upon my voluntary role as Chair of the Perth and Kinross Countryside Trust. It is great to enjoy the work and impact of the small staff team, recruit new staff and new Trustees, meet with our Youth Council and enjoy the countryside and support the delivery on various projects.

I would always encourage people to volunteer and to consider Charity Trusteeship however don’t think it’s just a nice thing to do, to support and share your expertise, there is also the weight of responsibility in this role – and it is a legal one too. The amount of work involved varies but being a charity Chair is significant.  My tenure includes the retirement of the Trust Director (CEO) and unexpectedly this has included ‘extending’ the role by mutual agreement. So even when you plan to retire, be prepared!

All of this is happening as we enter autumn and the most beautiful tree colours are showing across the region, with Perthshire and ‘Big Tree Country’ being a hotspot for autumn magic. This year is also a ‘mast’ year with the oaks in particular producing a bumper crop of acorns. It has also seen an abundance of fungi.

Autumn is a time of change and transition to winter. There is in the beauty in seeing the colours and then the fall of the leaves gives hope for the spring when they return with new life. For some people in my work sphere of zoos and wildlife parks, particularly in the UK, this autumn brings challenge and bad news with cuts, redundancies and closure, so I hope that they can look forward to Spring even if that means changed role, location or career.

Remembering Jane Goodall once more “Without hope we will fall into apathy and do nothing, without hope you’re not going to roll up your sleeves and get out there and do something to change the world. Somehow we’ve got to give young people enough hope that they can carry on and believe in a better future”.