New protected area raises hopes for critically endangered monkey
The plight of Myanmar's critically endangered snub-nosed monkey has been revived after its habitat was declared a protected area by the Myanmar government.
The new protected area, whose creation was supported by technical input from Fauna & Flora International (FFI), is home to the entire population - fewer than 330 individuals - of this distinctive-looking primate, which an FFI-led team discovered in 2010.
The high-altitude forests of the new protected area - known as Mount Imawbum National Park - are home to a series of spectacular species alongside the snub-nosed monkey, including the red panda, the takin (an endangered Himalayan cattle), and a number of charismatic pheasants. The site also contains habitats dominated by oak, rhododendron and, at higher altitudes, even alpine meadows. The habitat is also home to a diversity of rare plants, including orchids targeted by collectors.
The snub-nosed monkey lives only in a small area of the eastern Himalayas, on the border between Myanmar and China. It was first discovered by the FFI-led team on the site of the new protected area. The main threat to monkeys and other wildlife in this area is deforestation and roads built to facilitate logging, which divide and disrupt habitats. Poaching using wire or rope traps is another major cause of wildlife loss.
"This new protected area is a lifeline for the snub-nosed monkey, which is critically endangered," says Ngwe Lwin, head of FFI's northern programme in Myanmar. "Fauna & Flora International, together with partners such as the Rainforest Trust and the Myanmar Forestry Department, has spent more than four years consulting with local communities on the protection and management of this important area and we are delighted to have achieved what is an important milestone for conservation in Myanmar".
The protected area will also help curb illegal wildlife trade, a problem of growing international concern due to the coronavirus pandemic. "The new protected area will also help strengthen controls on illegal wildlife trade between Myanmar and China, which is particularly timely given the growing belief that the Covid-19 virus may have emerged as a result of illegal wildlife trade," says Ngwe Lwin. Protection and conservation efforts in the region will be facilitated by increased cooperation between law enforcement officials at the border between China and Myanmar.
This charismatic but secretive species is known locally as the "snub-nosed monkey" because of its snub nose, which is a key feature of the five known snub-nosed monkey species, all of which live in southwest China and neighbouring countries, including Vietnam. Locals say that its distinctive nose allows it to sneeze in the rain.
The first step of many
This important milestone for the country covers an official area of 386,176 acres (just over 1,500 square kilometres) of remote, high-altitude forest. The new protected area is also home to the charismatic red panda, an endangered species of which fewer than 10,000 individuals remain in the wild.
"Designation of the area is only a first step. It is now imperative that the necessary resources are directed to the area so that we can ensure the long-term survival of the snub-nosed monkey and all the endangered species that live in this forest," says Mark Grindley, FFI's Myanmar Country Programme Director.
In addition to the Rainforest Trust, other organisations have provided technical support and financial assistance for the establishment of the new protected area, including the Critical Ecosystems Partnership Fund and the Helmsley Charitable Trust.
The new protected area comes ahead of a decade designated by the United Nations as the "Decade of Ecosystem Restoration", with conservation groups calling for 30 percent of the world's land and sea to be designated as protected areas. It also coincides with the end of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets (2011-2020), one of the mechanisms of the Global Convention on Biodiversity that set national targets for protected area coverage, to which this new park contributes.
