Eye on Earth starts today in Abu Dhabi

Dr Jane Goodall, who left her London home in 1960 as a young woman to study chimpanzees in the wild, will share her passion with the public at the Eye on Earth Summit which begins today. Goodall, known as the "Ape Queen" will share her experience of life in a remote nature reserve in Tanganyika. Philippe Cousteau, known as the "Sealord" and Daniel Edelson, known as the "Education Geek" will also share their passion with the public at the exhibition being held at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre. They will reveal what makes their chosen lives so exciting and why they hope Abu Dhabi's youngsters will follow in their footsteps. Article continues below Dr Goodall will speak at 11am today in the publicly accessible Exhibition Hall. Her closeness to the animals she studied led her to become, to this day, the only human ever accepted into chimpanzee society. On Thursday at 11am, Cousteau, the grandson of legendary scuba-diving pioneer Jacques-Yves Cousteau, will present his work. He is the co-founder of EarthEcho International and Azure Worldwide, and National Geographic's Edelson, will speak on Wednesday at 11am. The Summit's three and a half days will take delegates from an overview of environmental issues to concrete steps they will want to become involved with, the organisers told Gulf News. A range of issues will be addressed during the plenary sessions, including the Eye on Earth Special Initiatives which are actionable ideas designed to improve the landscape of global environmental and societal information networking, said Cathrine Armour, Programme Manager, Abu Dhabi Global Environmental Data Initiative and Programme Director, Eye on Earth Abu Dhabi 2011 Summit.