Photobooks aim to protect Son Tra nature

The Vietnam Association of River Basin and Coast Protection plans to publish 300 photobooks of the Son Tra Nature Reserve in Da Nang City to raise funds for protecting its biopersity.

A corner of Son Tra peninsula. (VNS Photo Le Phuoc Chin)

Vice Chairman of the association, Ho Duy Diem, said the book would include 120 photos from 100 Vietnamese and foreign photographers.

He said the association had called for voluntary contributions. All money from the book sale will go to the fund.

Last month, freelance photographer Le Phuoc Chin and writer Bui Cong Dung, both from Da Nang, displayed photos at an exhibition of red-shanked langurs (Pygathrix nemaeus), an endangered primates living in the Son Tra reserve, near Ho Chi Minh city.

Last week, a photo of the langur portrait was bought by a local resident at an auction to raise money for the fund.

The 4,400ha Son Tra reserve, 10km from Da Nang, is unique. Its biopersity ranges from primary forests to oceans with more than 1,000 plants and 370 animal species.

The langurs in Son Tra Nature Reserve were declared endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2013, but the species has recently been classed Critically Endangered (CR) – nearly extinct.

More than 25,000 school students and more than 3,000 local residents have been educated on the importance of biopersity in the Son Tra reserve on field trips between 2013-2017./.

Flowers in the Son Tra forest in Da Nang. More than 1,000 plants and 370 animal species are found at the reserve. (VNS Photo Bui Van Tuan)

Red-shanked langurs, endangered primates, seen at Son Tra Reserve. (VNS Photo Bui Van Tuan)

A gnarled old tree in Son Tra reserve. (VNS Photo Bui Van Tuan)

The forest in Son Tra can be colourful. (VNS Photo Bui Van Tuan)

VNF/VNS