Following on from the Pacific Year of the Dugong in 2011, a new report on activities which took place during Palau’s Dugong dugon Awareness Campaign 2010-2011 has been released.

A programme to improve livelihoods and create economic opportunity in exchange for the conservation of dugongs and their seagrass habitat was officially launched in Abu Dhabi today.

The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) has published a booklet “Dugongs – respect and protect: dugong profile for range states in the Pacific Islands”. It gives an overview of the six dugong range states (Australia, New Caledonia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu) in the Pacific region and the measures they have in place to conserve and protect the dugongs.

Sri Lanka has pledged its support to the long-term survival of the dugongs and the protection of their critical seagrass habitats by becoming a signatory state to the dugong MoU

British marine biologist Dr Nicholas Pilcher wowed his audience at an illuminating presentation on dugongs, conservation, reflections on the past and the possibilities for the future.

In association with the 7th WIOMSA Scientific Symposium in Mombasa, Kenya, the UNEP/CMS Dugong MOU Secretariat organized a special session on progressing dugong conservation in the South West Indian Ocean sub-region, on Friday 28 October 2011.

New website describes local efforts to conserve what is thought is the last viable dugong population in the Western Indian Ocean. www.dugongs.org

The UNEP/CMS South East Asia Sub-Regional Meeting on Dugongs and Workshop on Developing Standardised Analysis Protocols for Dugong Questionnaire Survey Project Data for South East Asia Region was held on 27-29 July in Lawas, Sarawak, Malaysia. The meeting was a big success as for the first time representatives from Singapore and Timor Leste attended an international dugong meeting, and this was also the first time for Japan to attend since 2005.