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  • Opinion
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5 December 2025

Dugong (Dugong dugon) Conservation in China: Current Status, Challenges, and Policy Recommendations

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1
National Marine Environmental Monitoring Center, Dalian 116023, China
2
State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Coastal Ecosystem, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Dalian 116023, China
3
College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian 116023, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Conservation2025, 5(4), 81;https://doi.org/10.3390/conservation5040081 
(registering DOI)
This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Sciences in Marine Ecology Conservation
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Abstract

The dugong (Dugong dugon) is the sole extant species of the genus Dugong within the order Sirenia, and the only strictly herbivorous marine mammal. As one of the oldest marine mammals, it plays a vital role in maintaining marine biodiversity. Inhabiting the shallow waters of the Indian Ocean and western Pacific, its populations and their seagrass habitats continue to decline due to compounded pressures from human activities and climate change. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) currently classifies the species as vulnerable to endangered. Dugongs were once widely distributed along China’s southern coast, but sightings have become extremely rare since 2000. Population recovery remains challenging, necessitating urgent actions to enhance protection and restoration of critical habitats—particularly seagrass beds—alongside foundational scientific research. This paper examines the conservation status and threats to China’s dugong population and their habitats, analyzes conservation challenges, and proposes protection strategies (including strengthening protection and management of dugongs and their habitats; exploring population recovery methods; enhancing habitat monitoring; improving population monitoring techniques; and raising public awareness). These protection strategies aim to advance dugong conservation.

1. Conservation Status of Dugong

As the sole living species in the genus Dugong and one of four extant members of the order Sirenia, the dugong (Dugong dugon) inhabits coastal and island waters across the Indo-West Pacific, spanning approximately 135° of longitude and 50° of latitude with a distribution extending 25° north and south of the equator [1,2]. Dugongs primarily consume seagrass, but will shift to algae when seagrass meadows are damaged by extreme weather and algal resources are available [1,2,3]. In subtropical regions, they also actively feed on benthic invertebrates within seagrass meadows [4]. Characterized by long lifespans, low reproductive rates, extended generation times, and high parental investment, dugongs exhibit population growth rates typically below 5% even under low natural mortality and no human interference, as suggested by simulation studies [2,5].
Global efforts to protect dugongs have been reinforced through international conventions, including the Memorandum of Understanding on Dugong Conservation, the Convention on Migratory Species, and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which collectively stipulate protection frameworks and conservation actions [6,7,8,9]. Most coastal countries where dugongs inhabit, including China, have implemented protection laws and policies that designate dugongs as marine protected species [10,11,12]. These measures prohibit hunting, harming, or trading them, and mandate the establishment of protected areas specifically for dugong habitat conservation.
Although dugongs are widely distributed, their numbers have declined in most areas of their known range and now exist only as scattered remnant populations in most countries [2]. In particular, in China, dugongs once ranged widely along the coastal areas of provinces such as Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, and Taiwan. However, since 2000, sightings of dugongs in Chinese waters have become extremely rare [11]. This paper therefore summarizes the conservation status and challenges to dugongs and their habitats in China, proposes actionable policy recommendations for their protection, and highlights the urgent need for greater attention to their conservation in China.

1.1. China Distribution of Dugong Populations

Dugongs historically inhabited coastal waters across Guangxi, western Leizhou Peninsula (Guangdong), western Hainan Island, and southern Taiwan Island (Figure 1). Their populations were particularly concentrated in Hepu County (Guangxi) and Chengmai County (Hainan), where higher densities were recorded [13].
Figure 1. Distribution map of Chinese dugongs.
Dugong sightings in Hepu waters dropped from 15 in the 1980s to just 3 by 2000 [14,15]. In 2022, a joint study by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Zoological Society of London declared dugongs maybe functionally extinct in China [16] (the IUCN’s extinction criteria are not met, so this conclusion remains unendorsed [2]). However, in 2025, sightings of dugongs were reported in the waters off Fenniaolin in Yilan County, Taiwan Province, and near Yongshu Reef in the Nansha Islands of Hainan Province [17,18].
Seagrass beds suitable for dugong habitats are mainly distributed in Liusha Bay, Donghai Island, and Hailing Island in Guangdong Province; Hepu and Pearl Bay in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region; and Lian Bay, Xincun Bay, Longwan, and Sanya Bay in Hainan Province [19].

1.2. Conservation Status of Dugongs Habitats in China

China has established two key nature reserves focused on dugong conservation: the Guangxi Hepu Dugong National Nature Reserve (109°40′52.50″ E, 21°24′00″ N) and the Yingluowan Marine Ecological Municipal Nature Reserve (109°39′6.50″ E, 21°20′56.65″ N). Simultaneously, active efforts are underway to protect and restore dugong habitats, particularly seagrass beds.
In 2007, China introduced the “China Seagrass Conservation Action Plan”, which prioritized seagrass conservation in Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hainan. The plan outlined six specific objectives, including establishing a comprehensive protection and sustainable utilization framework for seagrass ecosystems. Under these goals, 19 priority action plans were developed, such as integrating seagrass conservation into China’s Biodiversity Conservation Action Plan.
In 2017, China issued “Several Opinions on Delimiting and Strictly Observing Ecological Protection Red Lines”, and by 2023, nationwide ecological redline zoning was completed. Coastal provinces released their marine ecological redline plans, designating key seagrass areas for protection based on seagrass distribution, marine functional zoning, and socio-economic needs.
Strict management measures were implemented for these redline zones, including:
Prohibitions on land reclamation, mining, direct sewage discharge, and other activities damaging seagrass beds;
Restrictions on shellfish harvesting;
Bans on enclosed aquaculture, bottom trawling, and illegal fishing;
Protection of existing seagrass ecosystems;
Restoration of degraded seagrass habitats.
Seagrass beds were also included in the “National Key Ecological System Protection and Restoration Project Plan (2021–2035)”, with restoration projects already underway. As of 2024, approximately 42.7 hectares of seagrass beds have been restored within the Guangxi Hepu Dugong National Nature Reserve.

1.3. Legal Framework and Regulatory Actions for Dugong and Habitat Conservation

China has established a comprehensive legal framework to protect dugongs, including the Marine Environmental Protection Law, Wildlife Protection Law, and Fisheries Law. And Taiwan Province has also implemented the Wildlife Conservation Act. These regulations explicitly safeguard rare and endangered marine species, prohibiting their hunting and killing [20,21,22].
The Regulations on Nature Reserves mandate the establishment of protected areas in regions with concentrated populations of such species, while the Measures for the Administration of Marine Nature Reserves prohibit activities like logging, grazing, hunting, and fishing within these zones.
Additionally, the List of National Key Protected Wild Animals and the China Red Data Book of Endangered Animals classify the dugong as a National First-class Protected Animal and Endangered Animal, respectively, legally affirming its highest protection status [11,23,24].
In recent years, China mainland has implemented stringent protection measures for dugong habitats. Through central ecological and environmental protection inspections and the “Green Shield” nature reserve supervision program, the encroachment and degradation of reserve ecosystems have been fundamentally curbed [25]. Additionally, the “Blue Sea” special law enforcement campaign targeting marine ecological protection and resource utilization has effectively combated illegal activities (include supervising marine and coastal engineering construction projects, regulating marine waste dumping, protecting marine wildlife, patrolling nature reserves, and monitoring land-based sewage outlets discharging into the sea) that threaten marine ecosystems and natural resources [26]. These initiatives have collectively mitigated human-induced risks to dugong habitats.

1.4. Research for Dugong Conservation

Chinese researchers have conducted comprehensive studies on dugongs from three key perspectives: genetics, habitat conservation and restoration, and monitoring technologies.
The genetic research findings on dugongs by Chinese scholars offer critical data support for identifying historical source populations in China and informing reintroduction strategies. Yu’s gene cloning and sequence analysis of dugongs show that Sirenia share more ancestral traits with Monotremata than other eutherian mammals, supported by conserved mitochondrial gene sequences [27]. Other studies on manatees have elucidated their molecular mechanisms, genetic characteristics, and population history during the transition from terrestrial to fully aquatic life [28]. These findings provide key insights into the evolutionary mechanisms of mammalian cross-ecological niche transitions and offer genomic-level support for the conservation of endangered sirenian species.
In habitat restoration, the Guangxi Hepu Dugong National Nature Reserve successfully selected and cultivated Halophila ovalis (a seagrass species), completing nearly 10,000 square meters of seagrass transplantation and restoration [29]. Single-plant spaced transplantation technology, integrated with a substrate fixation device and microbial-enhanced restoration techniques, significantly enhances seagrass survival rates [30,31].
Regarding monitoring technologies, the First Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources (FIO) has led the development of China’s first set of underwater acoustic real-time monitoring systems for marine mammals by leveraging the acoustic characteristics of dugongs [32]. This system enables real-time identification of the acoustic signals of dugongs and other marine mammals, laying a foundation for potential dugong population monitoring in the future.

2. Threats and Challenges in Dugong Conservation

2.1. Dugong Populations Continue to Decline

The global dugong population is declining, with its numbers sharply decreasing and even nearing extinction [2,10,33]. Fishing activities—such as bottom trawling and gillnetting—often accidentally capture dugongs, causing injury or death, which severely threatens their survival [10,34]. In China, dugong population recovery faces multiple challenges: seagrass beds are degrading continuously, past overfishing has caused severe population depletion, and frequent shipping and fishing activities disrupt their habitats. Compounding these issues is the dugong’s low reproductive rate, further limiting natural population recovery.
A 2019 study conducted with 788 fishermen in southern China concluded that the continued degradation of coastal ecosystems makes dugong recovery unlikely [16]. Subsequently, in 2024, another study conducted a large-scale survey among fishermen on the historical distribution and population dynamics of dugongs in China, collecting a total of 841 valid responses. The study identified historical legal hunting (now illegal), bycatch injuries from trawl and gillnet fishing activities, as well as habitat degradation and loss, as the primary causes of the rapid decline of dugong populations in Chinese waters [23].

2.2. Dugong Habitats Are Rapidly Disappearing

Since the early 20th century, coastal development, water pollution, fishing activities, and climate change have accelerated the degradation of global seagrass beds [35]. Between 1880 and 2016, the net loss of global seagrass beds reached 5602 km2, accounting for 19.1% of the known total seagrass bed area [36]. From 1940 to 1990, the annual decline rate of seagrass bed area stood at 0.9%, but after 1990, it surged to 7% per year, exceeding the decline rates of most terrestrial ecosystems [37]. In China, seagrass beds have also experienced significant degradation. From 1980 to 2020, over 80% of seagrass beds in China’s coastal waters disappeared [37]. In the Beibu Gulf, Guangxi, coverage declined from 45% in 2001 to 22% in 2020, averaging a decrease of 1.15% annually [38]. Unfortunately, the distribution of seagrass beds in Taiwan Province is limited [39].
Sea reclamation activities, as a primary form of habitat destruction, have become a key driver of seagrass bed degradation in China, particularly in core areas like Wenchang and Sanya on Hainan Island [40]. Operations like trawl fishing have caused structural fragmentation in seagrass beds along Guangdong Province’s coastline. Historical monitoring records indicate a stepwise decline in seagrass coverage over the past three decades, accompanied by over 60% loss of community connectivity [41]. The discharge of aquaculture wastewater leads to water body eutrophication. This process alters the light conditions essential for seagrass photosynthesis, ultimately causing a 35% reduction in seagrass chlorophyll content and a 50% decrease in growth rate compared to conditions in clean waters [42]. Severe weather events like tropical cyclones can inflict acute damage on seagrass beds through sediment disturbance and plant fragmentation. In certain regions of Hainan Island, a single powerful typhoon may reduce seagrass coverage by as much as 30%, with natural recovery typically requiring 3 to 5 years [38]. In summary, the threats facing China’s seagrass beds (which serve as dugong habitats) present a composite profile: they are predominantly driven by human activity, upon which natural factors are superimposed.

2.3. Methodological and Technological Limitations

Dugongs exhibit extended dive durations, surfacing for less than a minute per breath, rendering their brief respiratory actions nearly imperceptible and challenging to observe [43,44]. Current occurrence data for dugongs are sporadic and lack systematic collection, potentially introducing biases in distribution assessments [23]. Furthermore, monitoring techniques for dugongs remain limited, with insufficient data accumulation and immature technical standards for targeted monitoring.
Conventional monitoring approaches—including visual surveys, photographic documentation, and videographic recording—are constrained by dugongs’ brief surfacing intervals (typically <1 min per breath) and environmental variables including meteorological conditions and light availability, collectively resulting in low individual detection rates (≤30% in field studies) [45,46,47]. While emerging technologies offer alternatives, they present distinct limitations: aerial drone systems demonstrate restricted operational ranges (<5 km2 per flight) with intermittent observation capacity (≤4 h/day), whereas satellite remote sensing lacks sufficient spatial resolution (≥10 m pixel size) to resolve individual dugong behaviors or detect fine-scale habitat modifications (e.g., <5% seagrass cover changes) [44,46,47]. Acoustic monitoring encounters additional methodological challenges due to anthropogenic noise interference (vessel traffic: 80–120 dB) and ambient soundscape variability (wind waves: 60–80 dB), which reduce dugong vocalization detection accuracy by 40–60% in field conditions [48,49,50,51].

3. Conservation Strategies for Dugong Protection

3.1. Priority Setting in Marine Megafauna Conservation

The Guangxi Hepu Dugong National Nature Reserve serves as a model for implementing integrated conservation strategies: (1) strengthening in situ protection for endangered marine megafauna including dugongs and Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins; (2) establishing a human activity monitoring system combining remote sensing with targeted enforcement under China’s “Green Shield” and “Blue Sea” initiatives; (3) leveraging central environmental inspections to ensure local government accountability for habitat restoration.
It is important to note that the Chinese government should explore setting conservation targets for dugongs and their habitats, and regularly evaluate the effectiveness of management policies.

3.2. Enhancing Habitat and Dugong Population Restoration Through Integrated Approaches

To enhance dugong conservation, a multi-pronged approach should be implemented: (1) advancing seagrass restoration technologies through demonstration projects in key dugong habitats, with periodic ecological effectiveness assessments; (2) refining China’s ecological compensation framework by offering financial incentives and policy support to coastal communities engaged in seagrass restoration.

3.3. Enhancing Monitoring–Evaluation–Research Integration for Dugongs

A comprehensive monitoring framework should be established through: (1) institutional coordination by integrating national and local marine monitoring networks with protected area management systems; (2) technological integration of satellite remote sensing, drone surveys, underwater sonar, and autonomous camera systems for continuous dugong-habitat monitoring; (3) systematic effectiveness evaluation of marine protected areas through long-term ecological trend analysis for endangered species and ecosystems.
Supporting research initiatives include: (i) developing standardized survey protocols for dugong monitoring using underwater robots with multispectral imaging capabilities; (ii) creating AI-powered individual identification and behavior recognition systems; (iii) implementing remote sensing-based habitat change detection using high-resolution satellite imagery; (iv) constructing climate response models to predict seagrass distribution shifts under future oceanographic scenarios.
For specific regions, the optimal technical approach should integrate geographic characteristics and spatial scale, while accounting for resource allocation and budget constraints [2]. Given the current status of dugong populations in Chinese waters, priority should be given to leveraging China’s annual eDNA-based marine monitoring to incorporate dugong genetic data.

3.4. Recovery Strategies for Chinese Dugong Population

To inform future conservation strategies for China’s dugong population, we recommend integrating insights from existing genetic research with established reintroduction frameworks. Specifically, we propose adapting the methodology developed by Karamanlidis et al. for the Mediterranean monk seal reintroduction in Cyprus, while incorporating the conservation models for the Australian snubfin and Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins established by Parra et al. in Australia [52,53]. This integrated approach could offer a viable conservation strategy for dugong populations in Chinese waters.
Genetic conservation strategies should involve: (a) whole-genome sequencing of Indian Ocean–Pacific dugong populations to identify optimal genetic sources for potential reintroduction; (b) analyzing population structure to determine kinship with historical Chinese populations.

3.5. Public Engagement for Marine Conservation

National and local governments should collaborate to utilize mainstream media platforms—including television, radio, and digital channels—for regular dissemination of public service announcements and science documentaries on dugong conservation. This systematic approach aims to enhance public understanding of dugong ecology.
Marine protected area management agencies should be empowered to develop standardized educational materials, organize community outreach programs (e.g., science lectures and interactive exhibitions), and foster ecological literacy among coastal residents. Such initiatives should incentivize public participation in conservation activities through citizen science programs [54,55].
At the international level, China should actively engage in multilateral forums including the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and regional platforms like COBSEA. By sharing best practices in protecting keystone species (e.g., dugongs) and critical habitats (e.g., seagrass ecosystems), China can contribute to global marine biodiversity conservation through evidence-based policy exchange and capacity-building initiatives.

4. Prospects of Dugong Conservation

In 2025, individual dugongs temporarily migrating through Chinese waters were successively discovered at Yongshu Reef in the Nansha Islands and the Yilan sea area off Taiwan, indicating that China may still possess the potential to restore dugong populations. However, significant challenges persist in dugong population reconstruction and conservation efforts. First, China lacks effective monitoring methods and systems for tracking dugong populations and migration routes, making it difficult to assess the true status of these sporadic individuals in Chinese waters. Second, despite vigorous seagrass restoration projects, China has not yet established unified national-level quantitative targets for seagrass bed restoration. This absence prevents evaluation of whether current policies can provide sufficient food resources to support dugong population recovery. Third, China has not developed a national-level plan for dugong population surveys, assessments, or restoration and conservation targets, hindering effective evaluation of existing management policies. Fourth, cross-border conservation cooperation remains weak. China is not a party to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), has not signed the Dugong Memorandum of Understanding (Dugong MOU), and lacks collaborative mechanisms with Southeast Asian countries for dugong population restoration and conservation [2].
The conservation of dugongs in China extends beyond the survival of a single species, holding dual significance for the protection of large marine mammals in Chinese waters and the governance of global marine biodiversity. Looking ahead, China should advance efforts in multiple domains, including: developing an integrated ‘Space–Air–Ground–Sea’ monitoring system for large marine mammals using multisource technologies [56]; establishing clear conservation and habitat restoration targets for dugongs; exploring population recovery methodologies; evaluating the effectiveness of management policies on dugong populations and their habitats; and enhancing international cooperation for dugong protection.
Only by adopting a scientifically grounded and coordinated approach—integrating dugong conservation into the ‘30 × 30’ biodiversity targets—can these ‘wandering mermaids’ reclaim stable habitats. Such efforts would also contribute a ‘Chinese solution’ to the protection of endangered marine mammals worldwide.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, G.L. and D.X.; writing—original draft preparation, Y.Z. and Z.D.; writing—review and editing, Z.D. and S.L.; supervision, S.Y. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This research was funded by the State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Coastal Ecosystem, Ministry of Ecology and Environment (No. 20240108).

Institutional Review Board Statement

Not applicable.

Data Availability Statement

No new data were created or analyzed in this study.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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Tissue Culture for Conservation of Coastal Plant Species in the Baltic Sea Region: A Review of Protocols, Opportunities, and Challenges
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