Goa, 25 April 2010 – The UNEP/CMS Abu Dhabi Office organised a workshop in the 30th Annual Sea Turtle Symposium on 25–30 April 2010 in Goa, India. The workshop entitled “Conservation of Marine Turtles and Dugongs: Shared Synergies and Opportunities” explored the overlaps to conservation and management of these species and their habitats, A focus on species conservation and habitat protection are features of both the IOSEA MoU and the Dugong MoU.

Dugong Programme Officer, Dr. Donna Kwan, gave a presentation entitled “UNEP/CMS Dugong & Turtles: Shared Conservation Synergies and Opportunities”, which was well received. Dr. Nicolas Pilcher from the Marine Research Foundation introduced discussion topics for the workshop, namely policy, research, management, funding, technical capacity, education and awareness.

The discussion was lively and many useful comments and ideas were presented. The workshop also provided an opportunity to present the Standardised Dugong Catch/By-catch Questionnaire, which raised positive interest to the workshop, questions and come-back requests from about 60 participants, coming from 20 countries. A workshop report will be available shortly. The Questionnaire is now published and downloadable from this page under story ”Standardised Dugong Catch/By-catch Questionnaire Available Now”.

[Report of the Workshop Attached]