Primatologists and conservation organizations have launched a 10-year action plan to improve the outlook for langur monkeys in the Sundaland biodiversity hotspot, a region of Southeast Asia that spans Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand. Asian langurs, a group of 20 species in the genus Presbytis, are in steep decline across Southeast Asia due to habitat loss, hunting and retaliatory killings triggered by crop-raiding conflicts, said action plan co-author Andie Ang, a researcher at Singapore-based Mandai Nature. The medium-size arboreal monkeys face particularly severe pressure in the Sundaland region, she noted. “Sundaland has among the world’s highest deforestation rates: over 50% of forest cover [has] been lost since 1970, fragmenting langur habitats,” Ang, who is also deputy chair of the primate specialist group at the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority and part of the consortium behind the plan, told Mongabay. As the first ever conservation framework targeting an entire genus of threatened monkeys in Asia, Ang said the new plan will help to make the most of limited conservation resources. “By focusing on Sundaland — a region of both crisis and opportunity — the plan maximizes impact for langurs and ecosystems alike,” she said. The drivers of forest loss vary across the Sundaland region, from expansion of oil palm monoculture in Borneo, to road construction, urban encroachment and forest fires in Sumatra. The impacts on langur numbers have been just as devastating. According to the IUCN Red List, 24 of the 28 types of langur found across Sundaland…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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