{"id":1102,"date":"2025-04-03T13:58:38","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T13:58:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wiomsa.org\/researchsupport\/?page_id=1102"},"modified":"2025-06-08T20:20:57","modified_gmt":"2025-06-08T20:20:57","slug":"phase-iv-5","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wiomsa.org\/researchsupport\/phase-iv-5\/","title":{"rendered":"Phase IV – Dugongs (Dugong dugon) of the Western Indian Ocean Region: \u2013 Identity, Distribution, Status, Threats and Management"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Dugongs (Dugong dugon) of the Western Indian Ocean Region: \u2013 Identity, Distribution, Status, Threats and Management<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Dugongs, Dugong dugon, Western Indian Ocean, distribution, status, threats, management strategies, conservation, population genetics, abundance estimation, habitat modeling, anthropogenic stressors, ecosystem health, marine mammal conservation, UNEP\/CMS.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, South Africa<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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  • Associa\u00e7\u00e3o para a Conserva\u00e7\u00e3o e Protec\u00e7\u00e3o dos Dugongos e Especies de Mamiferos Marinhos \/ Association for Conservation and Protection of Dugongs and Marine Mammal Species<\/span><\/li>
  • Centre for Dolphin Studies, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University<\/span><\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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    March 2014 – April 2018<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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    Abstract <\/h6>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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    Coastal marine megafaunal populations often bear the brunt of human marine resource use as increasing human populations attempt to meet their demands of food and energy security. In particular, direct exploitation, bycatch in fisheries, indirect ecosystem effects of fisheries, unregulated tourism activities, potential disturbance from hydrocarbon exploration and extraction, deteriorating water quality, shoreline and coastal development, and climate change are potential anthropogenic stressors of coastal marine megafaunal populations within the coastal waters of the Western Indian Ocean. Furthermore, the synergistic and compounding effects of many of these anthropogenic impacts are unknown.<\/span><\/p>

    Dugongs (Dugong dugon) have an extensive range across an estimated 140,000 km of coastline of some 48 countries in near-shore tropical and subtropical coastal and island waters of the Indo-Pacific between southern Mozambique in the west and Vanuatu to Japan in the east. While major strongholds of dugongs occur in Oceania and the Arabian Sea, the status of populations over a large proportion of the Indo-Pacific Ocean range is unknown, particularly within the Western Indian Ocean. A brief review of known contemporary distribution and abundance suggests that dugongs have declined markedly across their Western Indian Ocean range (within the coastal waters between Kenya and Mozambique, and in the coastal watrs of the Mascarene Island Nations) over the last 30 years, and that the status of the East African dugong meta-population is in dire need of re-evaluation.<\/span><\/p>

    This Project aimed to investigate the conservation status of dugongs across the region about identified threat issues, and identify a series of appropriate management strategies for implementation at regional and national levels.\u00a0 Such conservation processes require some steps, including;<\/span><\/p>

    1. Identification of the range through habitat modelling;\u00a0<\/span><\/li>
    2. Population genetics analyses across the range to determine population identity;\u00a0<\/span><\/li>
    3. Abundance estimation and trend estimation (where previous abundance estimates exist);<\/span><\/li>
    4. Simulation modelling (PVA or PHVA) of population trajectories where declining trends have been identified;<\/span><\/li>
    5. The identification of threats and impact hotspots where populations are threatened; and\u00a0<\/span><\/li>
    6. The identification and implementation of management strategies to mitigate anthropogenic population stressors.\u00a0<\/span><\/li><\/ol>

      In summary, the Project assesses the status of dugong populations as indicators of overall ecosystem health in the Western Indian Ocean across the coastal waters of Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Mozambique, the Comoros Islands (excluding Mayotte) , and the Seychelles. It ties into a UNEP\/CMS GEF project application within Madagascar and the Bazaruto Archipelago of Mozambique.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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      \u2022 Assess the conservation status of dugongs in the Western Indian Ocean.
      \u2022 Identify and evaluate threats affecting dugong populations.
      \u2022 Develop appropriate management strategies for dugong conservation at regional and national levels.
      \u2022 Model habitats and conduct population genetics analyses to determine population identity.
      \u2022 Estimate dugong abundance and trends across the region.
      Identify impact hotspots where dugong populations are most threatened
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      \u2022 Conducted habitat modeling to identify dugong ranges.
      \u2022 Performed population genetics analyses to understand population identity.
      \u2022 Estimated dugong abundance and assessed trends based on historical data.
      \u2022 Implemented simulation modeling to predict population trajectories.
      \u2022 Identified specific threats and impact hotspots in coastal regions.
      \u2022 Developed and proposed management strategies to mitigate stressors on dugong populations.
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