Grey-shanked douc langurs in Hon Do mountain area, Quang Nam province. (Photo: VNA) The four-day event, which commenced at the Vietnam National University of Forestry on Monday, involves representatives from the Ministry of Environment and National Resources, the Vietnam Administration of Forestry, the Vietnam National University of Forestry (VNUF), and the international organisations including WWF and IUCN Vietnam.
VNUF President Pham Van Dien said he hopes the event will provide primate experts and stakeholders with a vibrant social environment where they can share their findings, views, and ideas regarding diverse topics, ranging from ethology, ecology, genetics, taxonomy to conservation.
“The symposium also promotes collaboration, partnership, and networking and represents as well an excellent forum to explore new funding opportunities for joint proposal development,” he said.
Tran The Lien, director of the Science Technology and International Cooperation Department under the Vietnam Administration of Forestry, said over the past 60 years, Vietnam has developed legal systems on nature conservation to better protect primate species.
With high awareness of the importance of primate conservation, Vietnam issued the Urgent Conservation Action Plan for Primates in Vietnam to 2025, Vision 2030 with many activities including the establishment of the national parks and centres in localities including Cuc Phuong, Cat Ba.
Lien said findings and discussions from the event will help management agencies and experts gain a deeper understanding of the status of primates and the challenges in preserving them.
Talking about the urgent action plan, Tilo Nadler, founder of the Endangered Primate Rescue Centre in Cuc PhuongNational Park said the remaining tasks until the completion of the action plan are now gigantic and will require a drastic change in its implementation approach.
During the event, experts will discuss three main topics of human and non-human primate interaction and conflicts; behaviour; and conservation and education.
Issues covered at the symposium range from the role of women in primate conservation science in Indonesia, developing the capacity of young researchers in primate conservation in Vietnam to the community-led conservation action for gibbons in Cambodia, and the use of thermal imaging with unmanned aerial vehicles in monitoring threatened primate communities in Vietnam.
In Southeast Asia, Vietnam has the highest number of primates with 24 species and 26 taxa, followed by Laos with 18 species, Thailand and Myanmar with 17 species each, and Cambodia with 13 species.
Vietnam also has the highest number of threatened primate species. Twenty-two species, or 90 per cent, are threatened with extinction, of which 10 species (42 per cent) are ‘Critically Endangered’ and at risk of extinction, including the three species endemic to Vietnam, the Delacour’s langur (Trachypithecus delacouri), the Cat Ba langur (Trachypithecus poliocephalus) and the Tonkin snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus avunculus)./.
VNA
