By: KARNJANA KARNJANATAWE

Published: 25/06/2009 at 12:00 AM

Newspaper section: Horizons

The Department of Marine and Costal Resources will dole out US$3,687 (about 130,000 baht) as part of its annual contribution to a fund set up with the objective to conserve and protect the habitat of sea turtles in the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asian region.

Apart from Thailand, other countries party to the fund are Cambodia, Burma, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Additionally, the department recently signed a memorandum of understanding on the conservation and management of dugongs and their habitat over a two-year period that runs 2009-2011. The memorandum brings together 12 countries, including Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), that have a secretariat in the Middle Eastern country, set up with a funding of US$3.4 million (about 119 million baht) from the host government.