South-East Asia

Action Plan Addressing Unsustainable Use and Trade of Hawksbill Turtles in South-East Asia and the Western Pacific Ocean Agreed

This new Single Species Action Plan outlines what needs to be done ‘To address unsustainable use and trade of hawksbill turtles in the South-East Asia and Western Pacific Ocean region and build resilience in the populations’ at both the domestic and the international level.

02 June 2022

New UN Report Finds Migratory Species Are Likely Among the Most Vulnerable to Plastic Pollution

Migratory species are likely to be among the most vulnerable to plastic pollution according to a new study released today by the Secretariat of the UN's Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS). The study focused for the first time on the impacts that plastic pollution has on animals that live on land and in freshwater environments, in the Asia-Pacific region. The study included case studies on the Ganges and Mekong river basins, which together contribute an estimated 200,000 tons of plastic pollution to the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean every year.

30 August 2021

Signatories to IOSEA Marine Turtle MOU Agree on New Work Programme

Da Nang/Viet Nam, 24 October 2019 – The 8th Meeting of the Signatories (MOS8) to the Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation and Management of Marine Turtles and their Habitats of the Indian Ocean and South-East Asia (IOSEA Marine Turtle MOU) concluded today after four days of intense deliberations.

24 October 2019

Global Dugong Genetics Project

The Global Dugong Genetics Project aims to examine the phylogeography of the dugong based on historical samples from throughout the dugong’s range. It will update conservation and management actions through mapping the distribution of discrete dugong populations; identifying historical and potential migratory routes; and highlighting small populations as a priority for conservation. The Project was a collaboration between James Cook University and Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.

04 May 2021

GEF Dugong and Seagrass Conservation Project

The GEF-5 Project represents a major international collaboration. It is unique in being the first coordinated approach to enhance the effectiveness of conservation of dugongs and their seagrass ecosystems through community-based stewardship, incentive-based conservation, removal of knowledge barriers and national and regional mainstreaming activities. The project covers 38 national projects, managed in collaboration with 26 local partners in Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mozambique, Sri Lanka, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste and Vanuatu.

04 May 2021

Dugong and Seagrass Research Toolkit

The Dugong and Seagrass Research Toolkit is an initiative by TOTAL, Total Abu Al Bukhoosh, Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi and CMS Dugong MOU to provide an easily accessible online resource that incorporates decision-making for the selection of the most appropriate methodologies for studies of dugongs, seagrasses and the associated human communities.

16 July 2018

Public Awareness Program and Development of Education Toolkit for Green Sea Turtle Conservation in Sarawak, Malaysia

Nobody knows exactly what happened during "the lost years" of the turtles in the wild, thus a green turtle headstarting project was carried out at Pantai Pandan, Lundu, Sarawak, Malaysia from June 2014 until December 2015 to shed some lights on the growth of hatchlings during a small part of their "lost years". As a consequent, opportunity of small scale awareness campaigns on sea turtle conservation arises during this project. Activities include talk related to green turtles conservation, hands on experience on turtle-human interaction (supervised), and documentation via videography.

14 September 2018

Regional Important Marine Mammal Areas Workshop

Dr Donna Kwan from the CMS Dugong MOU Secretariat attended the third Important Marine Mammal Area (IMMA) workshop in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia from 12-16 March 2018. The workshop, held by the IUCN Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force, covered the North East Indian Ocean and South East Asian Seas region.

26 March 2018