A corner of Con Co Island (Photo: VNA)
Quang Tri (VNA) – The central province of Quang Tri is pushing efforts to preserve and restore marine resources in the Con Co Island Marine Reserve.
The province has established volunteer groups to protect sea turtle, operating in not only Con Co island but also coastal communes.
Since 2017 to now, local residents have released into the sea 15 sea turtles.
Under a research project on restoring coral reefs in the reserve, conducted by the reserve’s management board and the Research Institute for Marine Fisheries since 2011, scientists planted 360 coral colonies with a survival rate of 71 percent. Some colonies have grown to cover part of the seabed.
The area of newly-formed coral reefs has been zoned off for protection. Other types of coral also revived in the area.
According to the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, other research projects have also been launched to evaluate and study ecological diversity and marine resources in the reserve.
Local agencies are collecting samples to build a collection of rare and precious sea animals and plants typical of Con Co island.
Con Co Island Marine Reserve was established under Quang Tri provincial People’s Committee Decision No. 2090 dated October 14, 2009, and became operational on April 21, 2010.
It aims to improve local residents’ awareness of biodiversity, marine resources, as well as the management, protection and sustainable development of those resources.
The reserve covers 4,532 hectares, including three subregions - namely a 534 ha protected subregion, a 1,392 ha subregion for ecological recovery and a 2,376 ha subregion for development.
In terms of biodiversity, the reserve now boasts 113 coral species, 57 species of seaweed and seagrass, 67 zoobenthos species, 19 crustacean species, 224 species of saltwater fish, 87 species of coral reef fish, 164 phytoplankton species and 68 species and groups of zooplankton. Of which, numerous species are rare and have high economic value such as lobster, sea cucumbers, Asian green mussels, mackerel, squid and sea whips.-VNA
