Quang Ngai (VNA) - TheInternational Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) plans to launch acommunication campaign to promote the non-use of plastic bags as a prelude toits sea turtle conservation programme on Ly Son Island in 2018.

IUCN’s Marine and Coastal resourceprogramme co-ordinator Bui Thi Thu Hien told Vietnam News that thecommunication campaign aims to raise awareness among islanders and tourists ofthe need to create clean and safe marine areas for sea turtles returning to theisland in the near future.

Hien said on December 26 other activitiesrelated to marine environment cleaning and protection would be launchedbeginning next year to boost sea turtle conservation in the area where turtleshad laid their eggs in the past decades.

According to IUCN’s research, the sea turtlepopulation in central coastal areas has seriously declined in recent years.

Quang Ngai beaches, including areas in BinhSon district on Ly Son Island, witnessed 200 sea turtles regularly approachingthe beaches to lay their eggs in 1980s.

However, the figure dropped by 90 percentbetween 1980 and 2000 due to rapid urbanisation, over-fishing and theconstruction of buildings and concrete dykes.

According to IUCN Vietnam, only eight outof 16 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in Vietnam offer sea turtle conservation.

Hien said MPA in Ly Son Island stillstruggles with a lack of investment and human resources for sea turtleconservation.

Beaches in Quang Ngai were home to speciesincluding green turtles (Chelonia mydas), hawkbills (Eretmochelis imbricate)and leatherbacks (Dermochelys coriacea).

According to Le Xuan Ai, a sea turtleconservationist, beaches in Quang Ngai, Quang Nam, Binh Dinh, Phu Yen and Binh Thuanprovinces were favourite sites for sea turtles to lay their eggs.

Ai succeeded last year in releasing nearly900 baby turtles into the sea in a pilot programme for ex-situ sea turtleconservation in the Cham Islands, off the coast of Quang Nam province.

Sea turtle eggs, which had been laid 40days earlier on Con Dao Island, were brought to hatch in sand nests on the ChamIslands’ beaches before the baby sea turtles made their way into the sea.

Last year, IUCN, in cooperation with the USFish and Wildlife Service, started a marine environment protectioncommunications programme for sea turtle conservation on An Binh Islet, threemiles off Ly Son Island.

Paintings of ocean life and species werecreated on the walls of households in An Binh Islet, calling on local islandersand tourists to join hands to protect the marine environment and sea turtles. -VNA