Hong Kong conservationists and researchers have said they will remember the late Jane Goodall as a beacon of hope and a kind figure who genuinely cared about the city’s biodiversity, as they look back on their time spent with the British wildlife advocate.

The iconic ethologist, known for her pioneering studies on chimpanzees in Tanzania and lifelong campaign for environmental protection, died on Wednesday at the age of 91, according to her non-profit organisation, the Jane Goodall Institute.

“Our [conservation] and environmental protection work easily leads to frustration. She always said she had many reasons for hope,” said Samuel Hung Ka-yiu, a dolphin conservationist who hosted Goodall in Hong Kong over the years.

Goodall made multiple trips to Hong Kong during her lifetime, delivering lectures to students and the wider public.

Her most recent trip took place last November, when she told business leaders gathered in the city that corporate support was urgently needed to drive conservation and sustainability efforts.

Hung first met Goodall in 2001 and later served as the director of the Jane Goodall Institute’s Hong Kong chapter for about five years.