Vietnam Project

In 2019 Parco Natura Viva, together with ARCA Foundation, ZOOM Torino and Pistoia Zoological Garden, established a cooperation with the Vietnamese organisation GreenViet for the safeguard of Son Tra Nature Reserve and one of the most emblematic primate species: the red-shanked douc langur. The red-shanked douc is a brightly coloured old-world monkey, with distinctive reddish born legs, a long white tail and a yellow-orange face. The conservation project supports Green Viet in the monitoring activity of the red-shanked douc and in the educational activity carried out with the aim of raising awareness of the local populations on the protection of Son Tra Nature Reserve and on safeguarding the douc langur.

In 2018 GreenViet opened the first education centre in Danang: Son Tra Nature Education Center (NEC). This centre organizes various learning activities for different target groups, particularly for students. Furthermore, the centre functions as a communal place where local people are involved in activities of environmental protection. The project therefore helps to bring about an attitude and behavior change to benefit nature conservation, bringing the local community to a more ecological lifestyle. Parco Natura Viva contributes also the “I love Son Tra journey” initiative, that organized guided tours in the Son Tra Nature Reserve, especially dedicated to the locals. In this way, locals have the possibility to know better Son Tra and observe some families of red-shanked douc langur in their natural habitat. Since 2013, more than 200 journeys have been organized, bringing more than 3,000 people to Son Tra to learn about nature and the red-shanked douc langur.