for development, production, and dissemination of educational 

 material bearing on the protection of manatees and their habitat 

 in Florida. In 1980, the Commission contracted with the 

 Florida Department of Natural Resources to develop a bilingual 

 information brochure on manatees. In 1988, the Commission 

 provided additional funds to secure the services of an education 

 consultant to prepare recommended curricula for public schools 

 on matters pertaining to manatee and marine ecosystem 

 protection. Also, the Commission provided funds to print and 

 distribute several issues of an international newsletter on 

 Sirenia and to prepare a paper on the importance from a 

 scientist's viewpoint of protecting manatees. All of these 

 materials either have been or will be used to increase public 

 awareness of the need for ongoing efforts to protect manatees 

 and their habitat in Florida. 



Manatee Technical Advisory Council 



(Florida Department of Natural Resources, Tallahassee, Florida) 



In 1980, the Commission provided funds to the Florida 

 Department of Natural Resources to convene a group of experts 

 to advise it and other agencies on measures needed to protect 

 manatees and their habitat. In 1988, the Commission again 

 provided support for the Manatee Technical Advisory Council to 

 provide the Executive Director of the Florida Department of 

 Natural Resources with advice on: (1) revisions appropriate 

 for inclusion in any updating of the Manatee Recovery Plan 

 and/or Comprehensive Work Plan; (2) the coordination of various 

 State, Federal, and private programs related to manatee 

 recovery; (3) the development of rules for State Aquatic 

 Preserves which overlap designated areas of manatee critical 

 habitat; (4) lands which should be acquired for management 

 and maintenance of important manatee habitat; and (5) the 

 most effective ways to use available statutory and programmatic 

 mechanisms to further the protection and recovery of the 

 manatee in Florida. 



Preliminary Studies in Support of Long-Term Conservation of 



the West Indian Manatee in Puerto Rico 



(The Puerto Rico Conservation Foundation, Rio Piedras, Puerto 



Rico) 



Effective long-term conservation of endangered West 

 Indian manatees in Puerto Rico requires better information on 

 the species' distribution, abundance, productivity, levels 

 and causes of mortality, and critical habitats. Because the 

 population is small and may be declining, any increases in 

 mortality could threaten the viability of the population. 

 The Commission, therefore, provided funds to conduct preliminary 

 aerial surveys to obtain more accurate information on the 



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