It was around eight years ago when Frank Momberg, then the Vietnam Country Director for Fauna and Flora International (FFI), Canadian Biologist Michelle Tung and I had lunch in a cool tree-shaded Hanoi courtyard restaurant. We talked about primate based tourism as a means to provide funds to local communities that were protecting isolated groups of critically endangered species of leaf-eating monkeys and gibbons. These were interesting times as FFI had field biologists like Le Khac Quyet scouting remnant karst forests in northern and central Vietnam and new populations of crested gibbons and Tonkin snub-nosed monkeys had recently been discovered. And more have been found since then. All were living in remote, unprotected forests that although had not been deforested due to the difficult terrain, were under pressure from fuelwood collection and hunting for food and medicinal products.
FFI was setting up community-based protection for these populations and helping local and national government agencies get to grips with firearms control and hunting. Frank was keen to find a way for the communities to generate income sustainably from the primates that would directly benefit the local people and give them an incentive not only to protect the wildlife but eventually expand the habitat. Frank has since moved on to a regional role but Paul Insua Cao, FFI’s s China-Indochina Primate Programme Manager and I have continued to explore specialist primate photography tours as a means to generate funds for the community and also help raise awareness back home about the plight of these critically endangered, but little known, species.
Karst Forest at Khao Ca
Villager collecting fuelwood, Van Long Nature Reserve
I made several trips to Vietnam around then and since with support from FFI and other NGOs to photograph primates. Although I had a very successful trip for Delacour's langur at Van Long my main interest was, and still is, the Tonkin snub-nosed monkey, a strange- looking character thought to be extinct until rediscovered in the early nineties and now thought to number around 200 individuals in several isolated populations. I first tried at Na Hang Nature Reserve working with the Peoples Resource and Conservation Foundation www.prcfoundation.org and the Forest Protection Dept. Based in a lovely village of bamboo houses and paddy fields, 2 Rangers and I hiked up into the forest and looked over miles of forest from a karst outcrop. It was difficult to pin down exactly when TSNM had last been seen in this area or even if there were any left in this part of the reserve. The rangers, who were not used to babysitting foreigners in the forest moved very quickly, almost running, in very steep and difficult terrain and carrying heavy photo equipment it was impossible for me to keep up with them. To be honest, even without the kit, I wouldn’t have come close to keeping up with them. With a small population of monkeys (maybe) in a large forest this clearly wasn’t going to work.
Community Ranger Mr Khoan watching for snub-nosed monkeys, Khau Ca
My next attempt was at Khau Ca where FFI’s Le Khac Quyet had recently discovered a small population of TNSM in a remnant karst forest surrounded by villages and agriculture. I was guided by 2 members of the local community, Mr Hap and Mr Khoan. Based in a tiny hut at the forest edge, 6 km from and 600m higher than the village, Khoan and I hiked into the forest each day to look for monkeys. Although still in difficult terrain, Khoan was much more experienced at finding and watching wildlife and we moved at a sensible pace and as quietly as possible. Khoan found monkeys 3 out of 5 days and although I got photos on 2 of those days I didn’t get anything of the quality I needed. It was immensely frustrating and today, with digital, I would have been able to get much more than I did. It was just too soon though. The population had only recently been discovered and although protection measures had already been implemented the monkeys were still extremely shy. If they got the slightest hint of our presence, alarm calls would sound and they would be gone. Quyet had good photos already - he has amazing ones now - but he was able to spend long periods alone in the forest. And he has an uncanny skill in finding and photographing these animals. It’s different today. It will be just as challenging to get to the place and find the monkeys but they feel more secure and are starting to become habituated to people. A Chinese film crew recently got good images of TSNM (and Cao Vit gibbon at Trung Khanh) and so the time is right to take small groups of photographers into these places with a reasonable expectation of success.
It’s taken a long time to get from that lunch in Hanoi to here and it still feels like we are only now taking the first steps. Vietnam Endangered Primate Photo Tour
Delacour's langur group, Van Long Nature Reserve
Delacour's langur group, Van Long Nature Reserve
OMG Love the Monkeys!~
ReplyDelete