URGENT ACTIONS TO PROTECT THE DELACOUR’S LANGUR IN HANOI

Few people are aware that right in the capital city of Hanoi lives one of the world’s rarest primates - the Delacour’s langur (Trachypithecus delacouri).

In December 2022, Center for Nature Conservation and Development (CCD) confirmed the existence of a Delacour’s langur population in the Huong Son Special-Use Forest, Hanoi, following months of intensive field surveys. Since then, CCD and its partners have recorded at least two more groups with around 15 individuals, including newborns documented in February 2024, November 2024, and March 2025.

After confirming the population, CCD has worked closely with relevant authorities to implement a series of comprehensive conservation measures for this endangered primate, including:

• Establishing a community-based forest patrol team: conducting regular patrols, removing snares, recording disturbances, and sharing data with forest managers and the Forest Protection Department for timely intervention.

• Monitoring langurs and biodiversity: combining drone surveys equipped with thermal cameras, camera traps, transect and point observations, and Spartial Monitoring and Reporting Tool (SMART)/GPS data collection to identify core activity areas, feeding sites, sleeping sites, and seasonal movement patterns for targeted protection measures.

• Installing conservation awareness and law enforcement signage: strategically placed at the interface between tourism activities at the Huong Pagoda Complex and the langurs’ habitat.

Alongside these efforts, CCD is collaborating with the Hanoi Wildlife Rescue Center and the Hanoi Forest Protection Department to develop a proposal to the Hanoi People’s Committee to establish the “Huong Son Delacour’s Langur Species and Habitat Conservation Area.” This strategic initiative aims to secure the long-term survival of this critically endangered primate amidst the complex balance between ecosystem protection in Huong Son’s limestone forests and tourism development in the Huong Pagoda Special National Relic Complex.

We will continue to update you on our ongoing efforts to protect the Delacour’s langur in upcoming articles.