From March 17 to 19, the 2021 China-Vietnam Cross-border Joint Conservation and Exchange Conference on Biodiversity, co-hosted by bangliang gibbon national nature reserve in Guangxi, China, and Chongqing gibbon nature reserve in Gaoping, Vietnam, was held in Jingxi City, and the two sides established a cross-border joint technical steering committee to better protect the eastern black-crowned gibbon and its habitat.
Eastern black-crowned gibbon. Huang Song and photography
Listed as a globally critically endangered species by the IUCN, the Eastern Black-crowned Gibbon is considered one of the 25 most endangered primates in the world, found in a narrow, pristine karst monsoon rainforest area on the border of Jingxi City, Guangxi Province, China, and Chongqing County, Vietnam.
In the 1950s, the Eastern Black-crowned Gibbon was declared extinct in the wild by internationally authoritative primate experts, until 2002, when a field survey on the Sino-Vietnamese border found their tracks, bringing the species back to view.
In order to effectively protect the Eastern Black-crowned Gibbon and its habitat, in 2011, Guangxi Bangliang Gibbon National Nature Reserve and Vietnam Gaoping Chongqing Gibbon Nature Reserve signed a memorandum of cooperation to actively carry out cross-border cooperative conservation activities. After 10 years of protection by both sides, the population of eastern black-crowned gibbons in the Bangliang Gibbon Nature Reserve in Guangxi has increased from 19 in 3 groups when the reserve was first established in 2009 to the current 5 groups of 31+2 (solitary apes).
Due to the epidemic, the meeting was conducted in a combination of online and offline. China's main venue is located at the Bang Leung Management Station of the Guangxi Bang Leung Gibbon National Nature Reserve on the border between China and Vietnam; the main venue in Vietnam is located in Hanoi City, and the meeting revolves around how to protect the Eastern Black-crowned Gibbon with a population of more than 130.
After three days of discussion and exchange, China and Vietnam reached important consensus on forest fire prevention, scientific research monitoring, community support, joint patrolling, and cross-border cooperation.
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