PM calls for action to protect endangered langurs in Ha Nam

ABO/VNA - Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has asked the northern province of Ha Nam to take emergency actions to protect white-rumped langurs – a critically endangered primate species endemic to northern Vietnam.
The Government leader made the instruction after Fauna & Flora International (FFI) made recommendations calling for further conservation of the langur population in Ha Nam’s Kim Bang forest.
The PM asked the Ha Nam provincial People’s Committee to review the environmental impacts of stone mining activities on the langurs’ natural habitat.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development was assigned to instruct the province to implement conservation measures in line with regulations.

A white-rumped langur at Cuc Phuong National Park (Photo: VNA).

It is estimated that about 300 white-rumped langurs are living in nature, mostly in forest areas in Kim Bang district of Ha Nam and Van Long Wetland Conservation in nearby Ninh Binh province.
Early last year, Ha Nam People’s Committee announced plans to build a white-rumped langur conservation site.
The conservation site is expected to cover some 2,483 ha in Lien Son and Thanh Son communes of Kim Bang. The region has high biodiversity value and it is large enough to develop a population of white-rumped langurs.
According to a survey by FFI in 2018, the forest area in Kim Bang has 13 flocks of white-rumped langurs, made up of 73 individuals.
However, the white-rumped langurs in Kim Bang are under serious threat from hunting and habitat loss due to mineral exploitation and forest product collection.

(Source: VNA)