For over a decade, the Asian Turtle Program (ATP) of Indo-Myanmar Conservation has worked to conserve the species, better known in Vietnam as the Hoan Kiem Turtle. A key site has been Dong Mo Lake on the outskirts of Hanoi, where an ATP’s team has a full time presence to monitor and protect the turtle. The ATP also created an artificial nesting beach, no-fishing zone, organised community events such as school lecture, turtle football cup to gain support for conservation from the local community. In addition to local conservation, our team conducted survey and research to look for remaining Rafetus swinhoei in the wild. Recently, the long search paid off with the confirmation of the fourth Swinhoe’s Softshell Turtle in Xuan Khanh Lake, confirmed using eDNA in April 2018.
For more details of our work to protect this species, please visit: The New Yorker
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