The Son Tra Nature Reserve in central Da Nang city, known for its richbiodiversity, is home to 200 Red-Shanked Doucs - a kind of langur thatwas declared endangered by the International Union for Conservation ofNature in 2013.
Efforts have been made by biologists to protectthe primate, which only lives in east-central Laos and Vietnam, fromextinction as well as from the rapid urbanisation of Da Nang.
LeThi Trang, Deputy Director of the Biodiversity Conservation Centre(GreenViet), and her colleagues were working hard as they climbed uphillduring a trek at the nature reserve. They host these for students,along with two-hour educational seminars, on Sunday afternoons.
Theregular Sunday programme is part of a long-term communication campaignGreenViet started in 2009, "I Love Son Tra". The field trips, designedfor students, give them a chance to learn more about wildlife and getinvolved with nature.
Their aim in starting the campaign is tocall on people to protect nature and show their love for it by beingmore environmentally conscious. Students can participate inenvironmentally friendly activities, like collecting rubbish on Son TraMountain.
"We hope to educate more teens and primary schoolstudents about nature, and the importance of wildlife and habitatprotection in the Son Tra Nature Reserve," Trang said. "Nearly 1,000teenagers and kids have joined field trips to Son Tra Mountain toexplore and learn about the importance of forests and protection of theendangered langur."
Trang, whose nickname is King Kong, said twoprimary schools in Da Nang included the programme in theirextra-curricular activities.
The programme teaches kids about thereserve, which is at risk due to hunting and urbanisation. Its areaalso shrank from 4,900ha to its current 2,500ha between 1977 and theearly 2000s.
Dr Ha Thang Long, head of the Frankfurt ZoologicalSociety's representative office, said raising awareness about theimportance of biodiversity in national parks and nature reserves was agood way for Vietnam to stay on course in its goal of protecting natureand wildlife.
"People will gradually come to understand the importance of nature and wildlife protection through education," said Long, 38.
"In2009, the Frankfurt Zoological Society started the Vietnam PrimateConservation Programme, through which it financed research onbiodiversity and langurs by Da Nang Teachers' Training Collegestudents."
Long, a langur researcher in Vietnam, said the projectaimed to strengthen the capacity of young conservators working onimproving biodiversity in Son Tra and Vietnam more generally.
Accordingto the latest report from the Vietnam Association of National Parks andNature Reserves, the country has 164 nature reserves, with a total of 2million hectares of special-use forest. But only 10 percent of rangershave been educated on biodiversity. Only three or four of the 30 rangersworking at the reserve are trained in biodiversity management.
TheFrankfurt Zoological Society has followed a long-term strategy onbiodiversity and langur conservation in national parks and naturereserves in Ninh Binh, Quang Binh, Khanh Hoa, Gia Lai, Dak Lak and KonTum since 1991, with an annual budget between 200,000 USD and 250,000USD that helps pay for rangers to patrol the forests regularly.
"Onlycontinuous forest patrols with sufficient financial support caneffectively control illegal hunting and logging," Long said.
Meanwhile, Bui Van Tuan, a member of the Vietnam Primate Conservation Programme, offers night wildlife tours in Son Tra.
A29-year-old biologist, Tuan has six years of experience trekking inforests and researching langurs. He doesn't do the tours for profit, butyoung people and nature lovers may accompany him on his night treks inthe forest.
"The trip will provide young people a full view andangle of nature knowledge, and life skills for surviving in the forest,"he said.
"They can then tell their friends and family membersabout the importance of protecting the environment and wildlife," hesaid, adding it will be like a night forest patrol session.
"Son Tra is a tropical evergreen forest, so it has a crowded population of wildlife flora and fauna," he said.
Son Tra is home to 200 langurs (Pygathrix nemaeus).
"Thetrip helps young people share their love for nature and become closerto the forest. It's the best way to educate young people aboutenvironmental protection and hunting."
Cyrill Russo, a Frenchphotographer, said Son Tra was a "green" treasure of Da Nang, with itsmyriad flora and fauna, beaches and unique landscapes.
Russo said the large amount of langurs in the area made the reserve an amazing part of the Son Tra Peninsula and Da Nang.
Trang from GreenViet said visitors should not litter in the forest, as it could poison the animals.
"Wehave launched fan page called ‘Let's Save the Red-shanked Douc in SonTra' and another page called ‘Son Tra Little Green Guards', an educationprogramme for kids, in a crucial effort to protect the environment ofthe peninsula and the rich biodiversity of the nature reserve," Trangsaid.
"It's a precious treasure. Protect the environment or we'll face the anger of mother nature."-VNA
Efforts have been made by biologists to protectthe primate, which only lives in east-central Laos and Vietnam, fromextinction as well as from the rapid urbanisation of Da Nang.
LeThi Trang, Deputy Director of the Biodiversity Conservation Centre(GreenViet), and her colleagues were working hard as they climbed uphillduring a trek at the nature reserve. They host these for students,along with two-hour educational seminars, on Sunday afternoons.
Theregular Sunday programme is part of a long-term communication campaignGreenViet started in 2009, "I Love Son Tra". The field trips, designedfor students, give them a chance to learn more about wildlife and getinvolved with nature.
Their aim in starting the campaign is tocall on people to protect nature and show their love for it by beingmore environmentally conscious. Students can participate inenvironmentally friendly activities, like collecting rubbish on Son TraMountain.
"We hope to educate more teens and primary schoolstudents about nature, and the importance of wildlife and habitatprotection in the Son Tra Nature Reserve," Trang said. "Nearly 1,000teenagers and kids have joined field trips to Son Tra Mountain toexplore and learn about the importance of forests and protection of theendangered langur."
Trang, whose nickname is King Kong, said twoprimary schools in Da Nang included the programme in theirextra-curricular activities.
The programme teaches kids about thereserve, which is at risk due to hunting and urbanisation. Its areaalso shrank from 4,900ha to its current 2,500ha between 1977 and theearly 2000s.
Dr Ha Thang Long, head of the Frankfurt ZoologicalSociety's representative office, said raising awareness about theimportance of biodiversity in national parks and nature reserves was agood way for Vietnam to stay on course in its goal of protecting natureand wildlife.
"People will gradually come to understand the importance of nature and wildlife protection through education," said Long, 38.
"In2009, the Frankfurt Zoological Society started the Vietnam PrimateConservation Programme, through which it financed research onbiodiversity and langurs by Da Nang Teachers' Training Collegestudents."
Long, a langur researcher in Vietnam, said the projectaimed to strengthen the capacity of young conservators working onimproving biodiversity in Son Tra and Vietnam more generally.
Accordingto the latest report from the Vietnam Association of National Parks andNature Reserves, the country has 164 nature reserves, with a total of 2million hectares of special-use forest. But only 10 percent of rangershave been educated on biodiversity. Only three or four of the 30 rangersworking at the reserve are trained in biodiversity management.
TheFrankfurt Zoological Society has followed a long-term strategy onbiodiversity and langur conservation in national parks and naturereserves in Ninh Binh, Quang Binh, Khanh Hoa, Gia Lai, Dak Lak and KonTum since 1991, with an annual budget between 200,000 USD and 250,000USD that helps pay for rangers to patrol the forests regularly.
"Onlycontinuous forest patrols with sufficient financial support caneffectively control illegal hunting and logging," Long said.
Meanwhile, Bui Van Tuan, a member of the Vietnam Primate Conservation Programme, offers night wildlife tours in Son Tra.
A29-year-old biologist, Tuan has six years of experience trekking inforests and researching langurs. He doesn't do the tours for profit, butyoung people and nature lovers may accompany him on his night treks inthe forest.
"The trip will provide young people a full view andangle of nature knowledge, and life skills for surviving in the forest,"he said.
"They can then tell their friends and family membersabout the importance of protecting the environment and wildlife," hesaid, adding it will be like a night forest patrol session.
"Son Tra is a tropical evergreen forest, so it has a crowded population of wildlife flora and fauna," he said.
Son Tra is home to 200 langurs (Pygathrix nemaeus).
"Thetrip helps young people share their love for nature and become closerto the forest. It's the best way to educate young people aboutenvironmental protection and hunting."
Cyrill Russo, a Frenchphotographer, said Son Tra was a "green" treasure of Da Nang, with itsmyriad flora and fauna, beaches and unique landscapes.
Russo said the large amount of langurs in the area made the reserve an amazing part of the Son Tra Peninsula and Da Nang.
Trang from GreenViet said visitors should not litter in the forest, as it could poison the animals.
"Wehave launched fan page called ‘Let's Save the Red-shanked Douc in SonTra' and another page called ‘Son Tra Little Green Guards', an educationprogramme for kids, in a crucial effort to protect the environment ofthe peninsula and the rich biodiversity of the nature reserve," Trangsaid.
"It's a precious treasure. Protect the environment or we'll face the anger of mother nature."-VNA
