The white-rumped langur of Ninh Bình now has an official conservation zone. Photo nongnghiepmoitruong.vn

NINH BÌNH — The northern province of Ninh Bình has decided to establish the Kim Bảng White-Rumped Langur Species and Habitat Conservation Area, creating what authorities describe as the world's largest reserve dedicated to the species.

Trần Anh Dũng, Vice Chairman of the Ninh Bình Provincial People's Committee, confirmed the conservation area covers 3,182 hectares across the wards of Lý Thường Kiệt, Tam Chúc, and Nguyễn Úy.

Natural forest land on limestone mountains accounts for the dominant share at more than 3,016 hectares, with planted forest land making up 64.25 hectares and land without forest cover accounting for 100.94 hectares.

The area has been divided into three functional zones: a strictly protected zone of 1,807.40 hectares; an ecological restoration zone of 1,358.80 hectares; and a services and administration zone of 15.80 hectares.

The entire special-use forest has been assigned to the Ninh Bình Protection and Special-Use Forest Management Board, under the Department of Forestry and Forest Protection, for direct management and operation. Priority activities will focus on natural forest protection, fire prevention and fighting, monitoring of resource changes, and biodiversity surveillance.

The establishment of the conservation area is the result of a decade of work involving scientists, international conservation organisations and local authorities.

From 2016, Fauna and Flora International (FFI) officially recorded a population of white-rumped langurs in the Kim Bảng limestone forest, comprising seven groups of about 40 individuals. Large-scale surveys using modern technology in 2025 – including unmanned aerial vehicles and thermal cameras – showed the population has continued to grow.

Recorded figures show 73 individuals in 2018, rising to 104 in 2022, and reaching 18 groups of about 120 individuals in 2025–26. The Kim Bảng population has been identified as the second largest white-rumped langur population in the world. The formal establishment of the conservation area creates a protected habitat zone alongside the Vân Long Wetland Nature Reserve.

According to the latest research data, the entire Vân Long–Kim Bảng–Tam Chúc area is now home to about 400 white-rumped langur individuals – with Vân Long holding about 250–300 and Kim Bảng about 120–150 – accounting for more than 90 per cent of the total number of the species remaining in the wild globally.

Dũng said the conservation area aims to conserve and develop the limestone mountain forest ecosystem, protect endemic, endangered, precious and rare fauna and flora species – particularly the white-rumped langur – and contribute to environmental protection, ecological functions, and the sustainable development of the region.

Activity programmes include forest protection, restoration and development; fire prevention, fighting and pest control; biodiversity conservation management; scientific research, teaching, internship and training; ecotourism development and recreation; infrastructure development; biodiversity surveillance; public communication and legal education; international co-operation; and community livelihood stabilisation.

Funding will be secured from state budget sources, forest environmental service revenues, integration into the budgets of related programmes and plans, and other lawful funding sources.

The provincial Department of Agriculture and Environment will lead implementation of the plan, co-ordinating with relevant departments, agencies, ward-level People's Committees and related bodies to provide guidance, conduct inspection and monitoring, and advise the Provincial People's Committee as required.

Departments, agencies, the People's Committees of Lý Thường Kiệt, Tam Chúc, and Nguyễn Úy wards, and all relevant bodies are responsible, in accordance with their assigned functions and authority, for co-ordinating with the Department of Agriculture and Environment in organising forest management and protection, nature conservation and biodiversity preservation, and implementing the contents of the plan in accordance with the law. — VNS