The World Wide Fund for Nature-Australia has effectively created a 100,000 square kilometre refuge where dugongs, inshore dolphins, and turtles can be free from commercial gill nets.

To achieve this, WWF-Australia has just purchased and shelved the last commercial gill net licence holding a sizable quota for the region.

“It’s not normal practise for a conservation organisation to buy and shelve commercial net fishing licences. But it was a practical way to remove the threat of gill nets from a section of the Reef incredibly important for threatened species,” said Richard Leck, WWF-Australia Head of Oceans.

Source: WWF

[https://www.wwf.org.au/news/news/2022/wwf-creates-100-000-km2-safe-haven-for-dugongs-in-northern-great-barrier-reef](https://www.wwf.org.au/news/news/2022/wwf-creates-100-000-km2-safe-haven-for-dugongs-in-northern-great-barrier-reef)