UNEP/CMS Office - Abu Dhabi in collaboration with The Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India and the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, would like to organize the First South Asia Sub-Regional Workshop of UNEP/CMS Dugong MOU on 6-7 June 2011 in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu, India. The workshop will bring the technical and policy participants from South Asia dugong range states (i.e. India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) together to learn about standardised methodologies utilized in dugong surveys. In particular, the main focus will be to introduce the Standardised Survey methodology developed to identify key dugong habitat, population numbers and trends, and impacts including direct harvest, habitat degradation and fisheries by-catch. The survey methodology is questionnaire-based and sufficiently flexible and low-cost to be adapted regionally.
The overall objective of this meeting is to support and enhance regional cooperation to implement the dugong CMP in the South Asia region under the auspices of the UNEP/CMS Secretariat to the Dugong MOU, and to also encourage non-signatory dugong range states to sign the Dugong MOU. This meeting will provide a vital opportunity for the countries to provide updates on the status of their dugong populations and associated habitat, as well as to seek grounds for future collaboration in the fields of both research and management. It aims at helping to develop capacity amongst staffs from collaborating countries to conduct standardised surveys on dugongs; updating information on dugongs and artisanal fisheries; and progressing dugong conservation in the South Asia sub-region.
Provisional Agenda for the Workshop
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