Publications

Johnson, J.A., Rajpurkar, S., Aggarwal, A. et al. (2026).

This document reports on the population status of dugongs in Tamil Nadu, covering Palk Bay, including the Dugong Conservation Reserve and seagrass habitats in the Gulf of Mannar. The report presents population estimates using non-invasive, state of the art tools, confirming that together, Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar represent India’s largest viable dugong population.

Omar, K. and Shawky, A. (2026), Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems.

Published in Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, this study identifies key dugong habitats and evaluates the effectiveness of existing marine protected areas (MPAs) for dugong conservation in Egypt. The researchers modelled habitat suitability under current and future climate scenarios, projecting a loss of around 11.8% of suitable habitat by 2050 and 20% by 2070. Existing MPAs cover around 54.8% of potential suitable habitat, with this proportion expected to decline to 52% by 2070. The study highlights the importance of protecting, monitoring and managing suitable dugong habitats both within and beyond existing MPAs to support effective long-term dugong conservation in the Egyptian Red Sea.

This technical report presents standardized methods and findings from dugong and marine megafauna surveys conducted under the IKI-funded Conservation of Biodiversity, Seagrass Ecosystems and Their Services project. It outlines practical, cost-effective approaches for monitoring dugongs and other marine megafauna using drone-based aerial imagery and standardized image analysis, enabling surveys to be undertaken by local practitioners. The report supports long-term monitoring of dugong populations as indicators of seagrass ecosystem health and provides guidance to strengthen evidence-based conservation and management of seagrass habitats and the ecosystem services they provide.

The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) contracted James Cook University to prepare a new edition of the 2002 publication: ‘Dugong: status report and action plans for countries and territories’.

The new edition, which is titled ‘A global assessment of dugong status and conservation needs’, comprises eleven chapters, each written by the listed co-authors. The report has been edited by Helene Marsh, Philippa Loates and Luisa Schramm and reviewed by Abdelmenam Mohamed, Lauren Lopes, Yasmeen Tel Wala and Harris Wei-Khang.

Khamis, A. et al. (2023), Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 1–14

Jones, B. et al. (2022), Ecology & Society, 2(10)

Published in Ecology & Society, this paper used tropical seagrass meadows in the Indo-Pacific as a model social-ecological system to investigate how sustainable development initiatives can result in unintended consequences with both positive and negative outcomes for the environment and society. The researchers analysed initiatives and their effects to show that sustainable development initiatives can produce unintended effects with major consequences that can undermine the initiative’s objectives. The paper emphasises the need for an a priori process that considers effects when planning interventions.

Unsworth, R. et al. (2022), Science, Vol 377, Issue 6606 pp. 609-613

Mingli, L. et al. (2022), Royal Society of Open Science, 9: 211994

Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources of the Department of Agriculture, and Department of the Interior and Local Government (2001). Philippine Coastal Management Guidebook No. 5:  Coastal Resource Management Project of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Cebu City, Philippines, 106 p.

Annual Progress Report

Wildlife Institute of India, (Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change), Dehradun.

Rahman, M.A.A. et al. (2019), Journal of Politics and Law; Vol. 12, No. 4; 2019

Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). (2016). C. Cabrido (Ed.). Quezon City, Philippines: BMB-DENR, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) – Global Environment Facility (GEF), Foundation for the Philippine Environment.

UNEP (2016)

The second report presents current knowledge on status and trends in biodiversity and ecosystem services and their pressures, but also aims to inform the global community about the responses the West Asian region has made towards the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, agreed in Nagoya in 2010, and the associated Aichi Biodiversity Targets.

Cleguer, C. (2015) PhD dissertation

James Cook University (JCU)

Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Thailand (2015)

UNEP/CMS Secretariat, Bonn, Germany (2015)
CMS Technical Series No. 32

Asian Development Bank (2014)

Ponnampalam, L. et al. (2014), Oryx, 49 (4)

Prepared by the Task Force for Conservation of Dugongs in India under the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India. An assessment of  issues related to the conservation of dugongs and implementation of the CMS Dugong MOU in India, to facilitate the country to act as the leading nation in the South Asia Sub-region with respect to dugong conservation.

National Biodiversity Working Group (2011). Ministry of Economy and Development, United Nations Development Programme & the Global Environment Facility

Sheppard, C. et al. (2010), Marine Pollution Bulletin 60, no. 1: 13-38

Preen, A. (2004), Biological Conservation, 118(2), p.205-218

United Nations Environment Programme (2001)