[1] Established in 1968, it is one of the smallest national parks in Tanzania, with only 35 km2 (13.5 sq mi) of protected land along the hills of the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika.

[3] Accessible only by boat, the park is most famous as the location where Jane Goodall pioneered her behavioural research on the common chimpanzee populations.

[4] The park is home to a rich tapestry of ecosystems, including grasslands, woodlands, steep valleys, and tropical rainforests.

[5] Gombe Stream National Park is famous for being the site of Jane Goodall's groundbreaking research on chimpanzees and other primates.

But ethologists, striving to make theirs a "hard" science, shied away from the task of trying to explain such things objectively.”[10] However, her research eventually proved just that—the intellectual and emotional sophistication of non-humans, chimpanzees in particular.

With the support of renowned anthropologist Louis Leakey, Goodall set up a small research station in Gombe in hopes of learning more about the behaviour of our closest relatives.

[3] She found that "it isn’t only human beings who have personality, who are capable of rational thought [and] emotions like joy and sorrow".

[3] Goodall insists that these gestures are evidence of “the close, supportive, affectionate bonds that develop between family members and other individuals within a community, which can persist throughout a life span of more than 50 years.”[3] These findings suggest similarities between humans and chimpanzees exist in more than genes alone but can be seen in emotion, intelligence, and family and social relationships.

Goodall’s research at Gombe is best known to the scientific community for challenging two long-standing beliefs of the day: that only humans could construct and use tools, and that chimpanzees were passive vegetarians.

[12] In contrast to the peaceful and affectionate behaviours she observed, Goodall also found an aggressive side of chimp nature at Gombe.

[11] She says of this revelation, “During the first ten years of the study I had believed […] that the Gombe chimpanzees were, for the most part, rather nicer than human beings.

[2] Run mostly by a team of trained Tanzanians, the GSRC is the longest-running field study of an animal species in their natural surroundings, now over 60 years.

[2] The ongoing research is also providing information on the current threats to chimpanzees, such as disease, poaching, and habitat disturbance, which affect other species at Gombe as well.