The International Primatological Society (IPS) Lawrence Jacobsen Education Development Grant supports conservation leaders with exemplary ideas that contribute to nonhuman primate protection through education and outreach. Ms. Thi Trang Le (Vietnam Country Director) was awarded such a grant in 2021 to help safeguard the critically endangered red-shanked douc (Pygathrix nemaeus) by way of providing our Little Green Guards® program to schoolchildren in rural communities in Quang Nam and Da Nang, south central Vietnam. Ms. Le has been invited to showcase the positive impacts of the program at this year’s IPS Congress. In addition to sharing our successes, she will exemplify how resources were leveraged to maximize results. Specifically, the award was a catalyst that spurred new collaborations with numerous local and international entities, as well as recruitment of over 50 volunteers to serve as educators. The synergistic effects of our teamwork, coupled with substantial media attention, have dramatically boosted people’s awareness about the plight of red-shanked doucs. Most significantly, our call for conservation action to Save the Doucs now has reached over a million children and adults worldwide.
