The Kingdom of Bahrain has acceded to the Convention bringing the number of Parties to 133.  It joins the ever-growing number of contracting Parties from Asia. The Kingdom of Bahrain, whose capital is Manana, is an island country located in the Persian Gulf that comprises an archipelago of natural islands and artificial islands with a total land area of 728 km2 and approximately 3000 km2 of territorial waters. 

The Dugong and Seagrass Toolkit has been selected as one of the 25 most noteworthy innovations in the Government sector of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Centre for Government Innovation. The selection was determined after a rigorous screening and assessment process where several contenders showcased their projects over a period of one year.

Dr Donna Kwan from the Dugong MOU Secretariat attended the closing workshop of the Dugong and Seagrass Conservation Project (DSCP) in Bali, Indonesia from 26 to 28 February 2019. The workshop was funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF). The four-year project, Enhancing the Conservation Effectiveness of Seagrass Ecosystems Supporting Globally Significant Populations of Dugongs across the Indian and Pacific Ocean Basins, commenced in 2015 and covered 43 national projects across Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mozambique, the Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Timor-Leste and Vanuatu.

Dr Donna Kwan from the CMS Dugong MOU Secretariat attended the Dugong and Seagrass Workshop, held from 5-8 March 2018 in Munda, Solomon Islands. The Workshop, hosted by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Dugong and Seagrass Conservation Project brought together delegates from four of the five Pacific island dugong range states.

Trang, Thailand, 10 February 2018 –  Anantara Si Kao Resort has officially opened the Dugong Education and Conservation Centre (DECC) in Trang, Thailan

The 22nd Biennial Conference of the Biology of Marine Mammals was held in Halifax, Canada from 22 -27 October 2017. The event, hosted by the Society for Marine Mammalogy, was followed by the Eighth International Sirenian Symposium on 28 October.

Abu Dhabi, 13 March 2017 – Delegates from twenty-three countries, along with the world’s leading dugong and seagrass experts, gather today under the auspices of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) for the opening of the Third Meeting of Signatories (MOS3) to Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation and Management of Dugongs and their Habitats (Dugong MOU).

Today the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Dugong and Seagrass Conservation Project unveiled its new, interactive and informative website that includes information about the project, resources for dugong and seagrass conservation, as well as information for project partners. The website was launched at an event hosted by Zayed University in Abu Dhabi, where the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund (the MBZ Fund) publicly announced the GEF grant for the project.

Bangkok, 16 February 2016- The UNEP/CMS Secretariat is participating in the ASEAN Conference on Biodiversity 2016 taking place from 15 to 19 February 2016 in Bangkok, Thailand.

The Pacific may be about to benefit from new funding from the Global Environment Facility.

Hoyt Peckham, one of the Technical Advisors to the CMS Dugong MoU, has been awarded a 2014 Pew fellowship in marine conservation to expand on his work on incentivizing sustainable fishing along the coast of Northwest Mexico to other communities in the region and around the world.