Saving Endangered Dugongs of the Western Indian Ocean

15 September, 2011 – New website describes local efforts to conserve what is thought is the last viable dugong population in the Western Indian Ocean. The team behind www.dugongs.org includes Dr. Vic Cockcroft (South Africa), Dr. Almeida Guissamulo (Mozambique), and Dr. Ken Finlay (South Africa). A focus of this work is to provide alternate livelihoods for local fishers, to attempt to wean them from using gill-nets -- the major cause of dugong mortality. As Mozambique is a major tourist area, one of their approaches is to develop community based tourism, both eco and cultural.

[Read more on www.dugongs.org]