A turtle is released into the sea (Photo: VNA) Ba Ria-Vung Tau (VNA) – Con Dao National Park inthe southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau has been working hard to conserve seaturtles for years, becoming an ideal nesting destination for the rare speciesin Vietnam.
Con Dao beaches are nesting sites of the biggestnumber of green sea turtles in Vietnam. Data show that about 350 mother turtleshave nested here.
The national park is the first in the country tohave successfully carried out a sea turtle conservation programme, beginning in1994. It has studied the animals’ behaviour and worked out effectiveconservation measures for not only Con Dao but also beaches nationwide.
There are six turtle conservation stations on theislands of Con Dao National Park, managing 16 nesting grounds. Almost 81,140baby turtles have hatched at these stations and been released into the sea soas to minimise the rate of those attacked by predators on beaches or littoralzones.
In 2018, the nesting season of sea turtles wasfrom late January to mid-November while the egg laying period was from May toNovember.
Nguyen Van Vung, a staff member of the marineand wetland conservation division at the park’s management board, said rescueand conservation activities have been carried out successfully. Con Dao hasbecome a sea turtle research and conservation centre with the biggest numbersof turtles nesting, eggs laid and baby turtles released into the sea inVietnam.
A conservationist examines a sea turtle nest on a beach of Con Dao National Park (Photo: Con Dao National Park) Management and examination have been enhanced tofight violations of turtle conservation regulations, thus reducing the theft ofturtle eggs and the poaching of mother turtles, he noted.
Last year, the Con Dao National Park handed over500 turtle eggs for incubation at the Cu Lao Cham Marine Protected Area in thecentral province of Quang Nam under a license of the provincial Ba Ria-Vung TauPeople’s Committee.
Its management board worked with theInternational Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to run a summer volunteerprogramme. Volunteers helped conservationists relocate nests, protect nestingsites and carry out communications to raise visitors’ awareness during the peaktravel season.
With the local administration’s permission, thepark has also worked with the Con Dao Resort Co. Ltd to recover and preservethe nesting ground on Dat Doc Beach between 2018 and 2020. It has providedmanagement, rescue and conservation training to the firm’s staff, transferred41 sea turtle nests to this beach and worked to restore the grounds.
Six mother turtles have nested in this area, andalmost 2,490 baby animals successfully hatched and were released into the oceanby the company.
Director of the national park Nguyen Khac Phosaid they will press on with management activities to detect and deal withviolations in a timely manner, continue the summer volunteer programme anddevise more effective conservation measures.-VNA
VNA
