Located 10km from Danang city centre, Son Tra Peninsula is home to over 278 animal species, 15 of them being rare and endangered. The red-shanked douc langurs are on this list, but have been further threatened by illegal logging and rampant hunting.
Development has also affected the peninsula to satisfy the demand of economic and tourism growth. 17 investment projects have been licensed around the Son Tra Peninsula with 3,000ha of land - equivalent to one-third of the total forest areas. Experts believed that economic momentum is the main source to the peninsula biodiversity’s degradation.
Many experts and even local people believed that the red-shanked douc langur should be the city’s symbol of biodiversity instead of five-star hotels or world-leading resorts.
Danang plans to make the red-shanked douc langur the city’s symbol of biodiversity at the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation Summit (APEC) held in Danang next year. Conflicts always remain between tourism and economic developments and biodiversity preservation, but the question remains what the city prioritises.
