The Biodiversity Conservation Centre of GreenViet, an NGO in Da Nang, will launch a warning application for smart phone users to alert of violations against animals and vegetation in the Son Tra Nature Reserve.

A red-shanked douc langur

Director of GreenViet Tran Huu Vy told Viet Nam News that the Son Tra SOS application will be used from November. Smart phone users can report or send photos of illegal logging or hunting in the reserve to GreenViet for rapid response.

Mr Vy said the Son Tra SOS, funded by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), would create quick supervision of any dangerous situations and infringements in the reserve, which is just 10km from the city centre.

GreenViet has been developing a website for the red-shanked douc langurs (Pygathrix nemaeus) – an endangered primate species.

The NGO is also co-operating with the Frankfurt Zoological Society of Germany, San Diego Zoo Global in the United States, and the IUCN, to protect the red-shanked douc langurs through long-term campaigns.

To date, a total of more than 440 visitors has joined free biodiversity trips in the reserve, while 400 junior high school students in total have been taught about biodiversity in the reserve.

Thousands of traps and tonnes of rubbish have been collected by local rangers and volunteers over the last two years.

The langurs in the 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.

In March, the National Administration of Tourism designated the Son Tra Mountain a national tourism site. It will host a luxury eco-tour resort complex including 1,600 luxury hotel rooms, and 4.6 million tourists by 2030.

(Source: VNS/ DA NANG Today)