Rehabilitation and Conservation the Seagrass Meadows at Cam Hai Dong, Cam Ranh Bay, Khanh Hoa Province, Central Vietnam

14 Feb 2007 Cam Hai Dong, Vietnam, Asia Biodiversity | Habitats | Plants

Pham Huu Tri


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28 Jan 2009

Restoration the Marine Animal Resources in the Seagrass Meadows at Cam Hai Dong, Cam Ranh Bay, Khanh Hoa Province

This project will help local communities (that the villagers of Cam Hai Dong must be partners as they are the stakeholders and the beneficiaries of the project) maintain their present livelihood without the loss of many valuable species in later years.

Seedlings of Enhalus acoroides are planting in the Aquarium.

Seedlings of Enhalus acoroides are planting in the Aquarium.

The village of Cam Hai Dong located in Cam Ranh Bay, belong to the Camranh town, is about 30 km south of Nha Trang city. The littoral zone of this village is covered by seagrass beds with the superficies more than 500ha, 6 species of seagrasses have been found, among them Enhalus acoroides is dominant. The seagrass ecosystem play an important role in the biodiversity, marine resources and ecological balance. Studies showed that, there were 37 species of mollusc, 13 species of crustacea, 12 species of echinoderms and 87 species of marine fish have been found (Pham Huu Tri, 1999, 2000). Valuable resources in this area were: shrimp (Penaeidae), crab (Portunidae), seahorse (Hippocampus kuda), mollusc (Strombidae, Arcidae, Veneridae…), sea urchin and sea cucumber (Holothuria scabra). But now, because of human activities ( shrimp culture development and some destructive fishing gear and methods), seagrass distribution areas were seriously reduced. Recent studies showed that seagrass beds in Cam Hai Dong, Cam Ranh bay were loss or reduced up to 60% of distributive areas (Pham Huu Tri, 2004, 2005). The consequence of seagrass degradation and over fishing causes the serious reduction of biological resources, some valuable species are reduced in abundance or disappeared completely .

The species of seagrasses Enhalus acoroides.

The species of seagrasses Enhalus acoroides.

This project will help local communities (that the villagers of Cam Hai Dong must be partners as they are the stakeholders and the beneficiaries of the project) maintain their present livelihood without the loss of many valuable species in later years. Seagrass restoration will increase biodiversity values and villagers can be expected to take part in restoration activities bringing the community together for planting operations. The project will bring knowledge to the people of the village and build its capacity to conserve natural resources. A suitable management regime can be introduced that will allow them to harvest their food products and sustain the biodiversity of the seagrass meadows. In the long-term it is to the villagers' advantage to carry out a sustainable management plan for the seagrass bed of Cam Hai Dong (Cam Ranh Bay). Of great importance will be education and convincing the villagers that the management practises applied are good for them. Government scientists are already working on similar approaches at the Oceanography Institute at Nha Trang and their assistance is important in carrying this project to successful completion.

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