Vietnamese Ministry of Fisheries (MoF) and the World Conservation Union (IUCN) on July 16 launched a new Marine Turtle Conservation Action Plan to 2010, with an outline based on the findings of a project financially supported by the Danish government.
According to the Marine Turtle Conservation and Management two-year project concluded earlier this year, Vietnam’s five marine turtle species’ populations have dramatically decreased over the last 30 years, threatened by illegal trading, intentional and unintentional poaching, and egg collecting.
With funding from Denmark, the study was conducted by the MoF; IUCN; World Wild Fund for Nature, WWF Indochina and TRAFFIC Southeast Asia.
The Marine Turtle Conservation Action Plan to 2010 outlines marine turtle conservation programmes for Vietnam and the rest of Southeast Asia, the MoF’s deputy-minister Nguyen Viet Thang said.
The action plan was developed by a steering committee chaired by the MoF and contributed to by other government ministries, research organisations, non-governmental organizations, as well as national and international experts. It will continue the project’s education and awareness programmes directed toward local government, fishermen, school children, small business, enforcement units and the general public.
