About 10 km northeast from the centre of Da Nang, the Son Tra Peninsula is considered to be a precious natural gift and a ‘green lung’ for the city thanks to its species-rich animal and plant ecosystem, plus the Nature Reserve.

Le Phuoc Chin (2nd right) and other photographers capturing the beauty of red-shanked douc langurs

Many Son Tra lovers have showed their sentimental attachment to this site in their own distinctive way in a bid to conserve and promote the great values of the site’s natural resources.

Most notable amongst such lovers is freelance photographer Le Phuoc Chin.

Despite having only nearly 3 years’ experience of photographing red-shanked douc langurs on the peninsula, Chin now possesses a rich collection of a total of over 600 amazing photos of this endangered primate.

Thanks to its unique beauty with 5 impressive colours, the red-shanked douc langur has been recognised by the Wildlife at Risk international organisation as the ‘Queen’ of the primate species. It belongs to Group IIB which is rare animals restricted from being held in captivity, hunted, traded or killed.

The local freelance photographer has been nationally pioneered in displaying photos portraying red-shanked douc langurs at last year’s Ho Chi Minh City Book Pedestrian Street, and publishing a photo book entitled ‘Bau Vat Son Tra’ (Treasures of Son Tra) featuring his best works on this endangered species.

Notably, Chin is the only one owning such photos of douc langurs for display at a landmark exhibition during the APEC Economic Leaders’ Week 2017.

The man starts his normal day at 6:00am by travelling to the Son Tra Peninsula for admiring the stunning natural scenery, and more importantly, capturing the beauty of red-shanked douc langurs.

By uploading photos of red-shanked douc langurs on his personal Facebook page, Chin has become actively engaged in widely advertising the allure of this rare species of animal to domestic and international friends.

Over recent years, Chin has escorted hundreds of domestic and foreign delegations on trips to the peninsula to explore the natural charm of this site, especially the beauty of red-shanked douc langurs here.

A total of 90 million VND collected from the display of his photos at exhibitions nationwide, and auctions for these arts works, has gone to a fund for protecting the peninsula’s biodiversity.

Like Chin, with his sentimental attachment to the peninsula, Mr Tran Huu Vy, the Director of the GreenViet Biodiversity Conservation Centre, a local non-governmental organisation, has exerted his great efforts in organising numerous meaningful publicity activities in a bid to raise public awareness about the multi-biological values of the peninsula’s nature reserve.

To date, by participating in such GreenViet-funded programmes, a total of more than 3,000 local students and pupils have gained a deeper insight into red-shanked douc langurs and other types of endangered animals living on the peninsula.