7utsronigedbaDCA Dugongs in Asia COMPILED BY ELLEN HINES Countries and Contributors Thailand: Kanjana Adulyanukosol, Ellen M. Hines, and Sombat Poochaviranon Cambodia: Ellen M. Hines, Kanjana Adulyanukosol, Phay Somany, and Leng Sam Ath Vietnam: Nick Cox, Ellen M. Hines, Keith Symington, and Kanjana Adulyanukosol Myanmar: Tint Tun and Anouk Ilangakoon Indonesia: Hans H. de Iongh Philippines: Lemnuel V Aragones China: Shaoyong Lu, Xia Jiang, and Xin Jing Sri Lanka: Anouk Ilangakoon India: Elrika D'souza, Vardhan Patankar, Dipani Sutaria, Bharat Iethva, and Parimal Solanki Since World War II, increased exploitation of primary resources has been the policy of many Asian countries'. Especially since the 1960s, there have been high birth rates and accelerated population growth in coastal ar- eas. The population in Asia grows by 22.5% every ten years, with 60 to 70% of people living within 50tmk km of the coast. This number is expected to double in the next 25-35 years-. Rapid development coupled with a rap- idly increasing human population in coastal areas has resulted in the degradation of coastal resources that were historically sustainable. Along with this intensified population growth, there has been a dramatic increase in commercial fishing". While coastal areas are vital to the needs and livelihoods oflocal peoples, human activi- ties are, in many cases, degrading these areas. In South and Southeast Asia and China, as farmland becomes less available, immigration from overcrowded provinces into an open-access artisanal fishery and an often destructive and corrupt commercial fishing industry has created an atmosphere of desperation that often places the dugong and its habitat at risk", Here, as in other areas, as coastal resources are over- exploited, there follows a decline in the condition of these coastal ecosystems and consequent impoverish- ment of the people who depend on coastal resources. Besides fisheries depletion, the subsequent threats as a result of this acute pressure on coastal and marine areas include air and water pollution and the loss of wetlands and other coastal areas due to increased urbanizatio and agricultural and aquacultural development. Any as- sessment of conservation issues affecting the dugong, species with specialized foraging needs that keep it clo - to these shores, must consider how these requiremen create unique vulnerabilities to be considered whee planning their protections. In Asia, as throughout the dugongs' range, group of dugongs along the coast are largely scattered aroun beds of seagrass (map 7.1). Where dugongs were hi - tori cally more abundantly distributed, reduction . numbers and local extirpations have left smaller, more isolated groups". The low numbers and isolation these remnant populations expose each small group t a higher risk of extirpation, where a species becom extinct in a specific area. The patchy distribution sea grass meadows makes the dugong especially vulner- able to the effects of increasing habitat fragmentation- Throughout most of Asia we have limited knowledge dugong population numbers and distribution. Therefore the recolonizing ability and travel distances of dugon in these regions are unknown. Asia is experiencing SOID:: of the highest global levels of resource use, populatioc growth, and developments, which could lead to aver bleak future for Asian dugongs. There are four major threats to dugongs in this re- gion. One is the incidental catch of dugongs in fishinz nets. Both illegal fishing practices (dynamite, cyani .