Fauna & Flora, The David Attenborough Building, Pembroke Street, CB2 3QZ, Cambridge, UK
Sour Kim
Fauna & Flora, The David Attenborough Building, Pembroke Street, CB2 3QZ, Cambridge, UK
Manjula Tiwari
Ocean Ecology Network, Research Affiliate of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Marine Turtle Ecology and Assessment Program, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, La Jolla, USA
Marianne Teoh
Fauna & Flora, The David Attenborough Building, Pembroke Street, CB2 3QZ, Cambridge, UK
Cambodian waters historically supported significant nesting populations of marine turtles up to the early 20th century. However, although fishing and coastal development have intensified, marine turtle conservation has received little recent attention. We collate the available information on Cambodian marine turtles by summarizing NGO and government data from provincial consultations, fisheries surveys and nesting beach surveys, and synthesize our findings into recommendations for the conservation of marine turtles in Cambodia. The available data indicate that a small and highly threatened marine turtle population persists, despite significant declines driven by intense historical harvesting, widespread bycatch, loss of nesting habitat, marine wildlife trade and ongoing poor compliance with wildlife protection regulations. To improve the conservation status of Cambodian turtles, we recommend (1) revising relevant legislation to better protect marine turtle habitats whilst increasing compliance with gear restrictions and threatened species laws in priority sites, (2) trialling alternative fishing gear or gear modifications to reduce bycatch, (3) continuing capacity building for locally driven marine turtle conservation science, (4) identifying and mapping beaches with high nesting potential and protecting them from further coastal development, and (5) investing in transboundary collaborations to improve the monitoring and management of the turtle populations that range between Cambodia and neighbouring countries.
