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VN
rallies to save marine turtles
HA NOI —
Viet Nam’s marine turtle population is threatened by illegal
trading, intentional and unintentional poaching, and egg
collecting according to Viet Nam’s new Marine Turtle
Conservation Action Plan to 2010.
The action
plan was launched last Friday by The Ministry of Fisheries (MoF)
and the World Conservation Union (IUCN).
A Steering
Committee chaired by the MoF and contributed to by other
Government ministries, research organisations, non-governmental
organisations and national and international experts developed the
action plan.
It outlines
marine turtle conservation programmes for Viet Nam and the rest of
South-east Asia, the MoF’s deputy-minister Nguyen Viet Thang
said.
The plan
uses the findings of the Marine Turtle Conservation and Management
two-year project that concluded this year.
The project
studied marine turtle populations and was conducted by the MoF;
IUCN; World Wild Fund for Nature, WWF Indochina and TRAFFIC
Southeast Asia with financial support from Denmark’s Government.
It found
that Viet Nam’s five marine turtle species’ populations have
dramatically decreased over the last 30 years.
The action
plan will continue the project’s education and awareness
programmes directed toward local Government, fishermen, school
children, small business, enforcement units and the general
public. — VNS
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