Tamil Nadu government’s decision to establish a dugong conservation reserve in the Gulf of Mannar, Palk Bay between India and Sri Lanka, has been welcomed by the Marine biologists.
- The Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden has submitted a concept note towards establishment of a Dugong Conservation Reserve.
Protected area Vs Conservation reserve
- Declaring an area as ‘protected’ means there will be no human interference in there.
- But in case of marine reserves, the sea is a type of commons. Coastal communities are highly dependent on it. By designating a protected marine area, literally means denying the resources to such people. That is why concepts of community and conservation reserves are in place. Gulf of Mannar will be a conservation reserve for dugongs and it will be co-managed.
About Dugongs
- Dugong is the only herbivorous marine mammal on earth that feeds exclusively on seagrass.
- It consumes 40kg of seagrass daily and helps in the growth of fresh vegetation. In the absence of dugongs, seagrass will grow densely and fish will not come to lay eggs.
- The dugong is a species of sea cow found throughout the warm latitudes of the Indian and western Pacific Oceans.
- Dugongs are on the verge of extinction. In the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, their population is less than 100. There are very few left in the Gulf of Mannar. In the Gulf of Kutch, there are very few sporadic records. They were present in Lakshadweep but now are locally extinct.
- Dugong was declared as a Schedule I animal under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
- Unlike the closely related manatees, the dugong never enters freshwater and is therefore the only exclusively marine mammal that is herbivorous.
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