Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park has sensitised stakeholders to conservation of dugong, the sea grass-eating mammal, in Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar.
The Park, which had taken up a study on Species Conservation Action Plan (SCAP) for Dugong, organised a one-day workshop here on Tuesday to educate stakeholders in the region on conservation of the marine mammal.
The workshop was organised under Tamil Nadu Biodiversity Conservation and Greening Project, Deepak S. Bilgi, Wildlife Warden, Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park, said. “It is a training-cum-awareness workshop on dugong conservation,” he noted. The Park would develop a module to create awareness among the stakeholders, especially the fisherfolk, of the need to conserve the species and its habitats, he said, adding “we will also develop strategies to improve the protection system.”
Officials from the departments of Fisheries, Forest, Coastal Security Group (CSG), Indian Coast Guard (ICG), Naval detachments and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau attended the workshop, he said.
Representatives of Thoothukudi-based Suganthi Devadason Marine Research Institute (SDMR), which had conducted Species Conservation Action Plan for Dugong for the Marine National Park, also attended it.
Nihar Ranjan, Conservator of Forests, Virudhunagar Circle, Ganesan, Conservator of Forests, Chennai Circle, and T.S. Dangae, Director of Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve Trust, spoke.
As part of the conservation project, the Park had completed sea grass mapping from Rameswaram to Adhiramapattinam near Point Calimere in the Palk Bay. A boat survey had also been done to assess dugong population in the region.
“Plan to develop strategies to improve
the protection system”
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