Tam Mỹ Tây

“I think we all have a stake in the grey-shanked douc langur’s future, because the plantations bordering their home feed one of the largest furniture retailers in the world. Yet, here’s a community of foresters saying, actually – what’s our number one priority? How do we find balance here? In answering these questions, the village of Tam Mỹ Tây has grown a tight bond with the langurs, and maybe because of that, each other.

There’s a moment in the film, where the patrol tunes into a langur’s call at the forest’s edge. It might have been a warning, and that’s as far as the patrol will ever go. This respect is echoed in stories of Mr Danh disarming poachers with food and beer, which incredibly, his wife now packs into their First Aid kit. I hope their story inspires other communities to follow their lead and realise the power they hold to change things”.