Vietnam has legally protected a stronghold of the Delacour’s langur, a critically endangered monkey found only in the country. On Sept. 10, Ninh Binh province created a conservation area of about 7,900 acres in the limestone hills of Kim Bang. The monkeys there have increased since scientists first counted them in 2016 C.E.
At a glance
- Decision: Ninh Binh’s People’s Committee issued Decision 3343/QD-UBND on Sept. 10, the Vietnam News Agency reported.
- Size: The area covers 3,182 hectares, or about 7,900 acres. More than 1,800 hectares are strictly protected, Dan Tri International reported.
- Population: Kim Bang’s langurs rose from about 40 in 2016 C.E. to 128 by 2025 C.E., state media reported last year.
How the Delacour’s langur conservation area works
The area spans three wards: Ly Thuong Kiet, Tam Chuc, and Nguyen Uy. Most of it is natural forest, about 7,500 acres. The rest is tree plantation and bare land.
Officials divided it into three zones. About 4,500 acres are strictly protected, and about 3,400 acres are set aside for restoration. A small zone for staff and services covers roughly 40 acres.
The plan lists forest protection, wildfire prevention, research, payments for forest services, and monitoring of the langurs. It also promises help for local livelihoods and, over time, ecotourism.
Why Kim Bang matters
The Delacour’s langur lives only in small pockets of forest among the limestone mountains of northern Vietnam, according to Fauna & Flora. Scientists identified the species in 1930 C.E. Its largest population lives in the nearby Van Long Nature Reserve.
The Kim Bang population was a late discovery. A 2016 C.E. survey found about 40 langurs in seven groups, and a 2018 C.E. follow-up counted 73 in 13 groups. Fauna & Flora then recommended a new protected area. The provincial government agreed in principle.
Fauna & Flora also works with former hunters. It helped set up community patrol teams that monitor and protect the monkeys.
What remains unresolved
Protection on paper is not yet protection on the ground. Officials said no buffer zone has been proposed at this stage, so the forest’s edge has no extra cushion for now.
Limestone quarries and cement mining have shrunk the langurs’ habitat over two decades, the Rainforest Trust says. Poaching for meat and folk medicine is another threat.
Five Vietnamese conservation groups raised other gaps in an August 2025 C.E. petition to the prime minister. They said the local forest station had only four rangers. They also asked authorities to check that closed quarries were being restored.
Counts also vary. Fauna & Flora puts the worldwide population near 500. The Rainforest Trust says about 250 remain. The published reports give no budget. They also do not name who will manage the area.
What comes next
The first test is whether the area gets rangers, money, and a plan to run it. The decision lists monitoring of the langurs. That would show whether numbers keep rising.
Mining sites were excluded from the planned area, state media reported in 2025 C.E. Mining projects in four nearby communes also had to stop work by Dec. 31, 2025 C.E. and restore the land.
Read more
For more on this story, see: Vietnam News Agency (VietnamPlus)
For more from Good News for Humankind, see:
- Brazil takes pioneering action to rewild howler monkeys
- Papua New Guinea clans to protect 300,000 acres of rainforest for tree kangaroos
- The Good News for Humankind archive on wildlife and land conservation
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