Since 2001, the Fisheries Administration and WCS have worked with communities in the Sre Ambel area to conserve the Mangrove Terrapin through the implementation of a variety of conservation interventions. These interventions have been guided by a two-pronged strategy that has focused both on protecting in-situ populations in the Sre Ambel river system, as well as raising a captive population in the project's hatchling centre.
The in-situ project activities are based around the two remaining rivers where the animals are known to occur, the Sre Ambel River and the Kaong River. The focus of activities is the protection of Mangrove Terrapin nests during the nesting season, with community monitoring patrols implemented across the whole river system throughout the year.
The ex-situ head-starting program focuses on rearing turtles in a hatchling centre to a size where likelihood of mortality is lowered, usually at least around two or three years old, with the eventual goal of releasing these individuals into the wild.
Following increased levels of human activity on the Sre Ambel river, project staff will attempt to identify alternative release sites for the hatchlings at the centre. Surveys will be conducted to identify those rivers that currently contain Mangrove Terrapin, as well as river systems that may have previously been home to Mangrove Terrapin populations, and which would be suitable sites for the release of animals in the future. These surveys will include all rivers that have been either known or suspected to have contained Mangrove Terrapin in the recent past.