Releasing baby turtle at Dat Doc
Con Dao National Park
Private sector involvement
Hatchery pond at Dat Doc, built by Six Senses
Con Dao National Park
In the past, sea-turtle used to use many different beaches in Con Dao islands for breeding. However, due to the pressure from economic development, they had to retreat to few beaches inside the national park. When Con Dao Resort Co., Ltd. (Six Senses) started it business, Dat Doc was one of the left-over beaches. With new business model, the beach is well protected and regularly cleaned by the company's employees. After few years, in early 2018, sea-turtle started comeback Dat Doc for laying eggs. Fully aware the importance of sea-turtle conservation, the directors approached park managers, and with an agreement from Ba Ria-Vung Tau PPC, a collaborative project was initiated which aims to restore and conserve sea-turtle breeding grounds in Dat Doc beach.
After 3 years of implementation, the company has have invested c. USD 38,000 in following activities: an awareness programme, improve breeding sea turtle breeding habitats, setup a hatching pond 50m² with fence and CCTV system, and regular joined patrols by park rangers and company staff (1,044 working days, relocating 10 nests, 678 eggs, and releasing 464 baby turtles). The company continues to commit c. USD 70,000 for this programme in next 5 years.
- New public and private sector awareness toward biodiversity conservation
- New state policies on socialization biodiversity conservation
- A responsive cooporate that ready to invest in biodiversity conservation
With an new environmental-friendly attitute from business sector, this project is the first effort of sea turtle conservation in Vietnam which have the participation of a tourism business. This is a good example for demonstrating the role of private sector in socializing the investment for conservation work. The success of this project brought mutual benefits for both protected area and the company, where the well-conserved habitats for turtle also providing key tourism products that attract more visitors using the company's services.