Vietnam has second Disney Conservation Hero

Le Van Hien (middle) has become the second Disney Conservation Hero of Vietnam (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) - The Fauna & Flora International (FFI) on January 15 announced a decision to recognise Le Van Hien, a member of the community-based preservation group of Kim Bang district of the northern Ha Nam province, as a Disney Conservation Hero by the Disney Conservation Fund.

Hien, born in 1961, used to be a hunter who gave up hunting activities and became an active factor in wildlife protection and forest researching in Kim Bang.

He has acquired deep knowledge of fauna and flora in Kim Bang forest, and enthusiastically supported researchers in the local forest.

In 2016, he worked as a guide for experts from the FFI in their research on Delacour's langur (Trachypithecus delacouri) in Kim Bang forest. The information he provided helped the experts discover the second largest Delacour's langur community in the world in Kim Bang.

In 2017, the FFI in collaboration with the Ha Nam Department of Agriculture and Rural Development launched a project to preserve Delacour's langur.

Thanks to efforts of Hien and members of the group, from 2016-2018, the number of Delacour's langur in Kim Bang expanded from 40 to more than 100.

According to FFI Director Josh Kempinski, Hien takes an important part in the protection of biodiversity and the conservation of Delacour's langur in Kim Bang.

Since 1995, Disney Conservation Fund was formed in 1995 with an aim to protect nature worldwide. So far, it has honoured 180 individuals from 50 countries and territories.

In Vietnam, Hien has been the second to receive the Disney Conservation Hero title. Earlier in 2017, from nomination of FFI,  forest ranger Hoang Van Tue was selected as Disney Conservation Hero 2017 by the Conservation Fund./.