Category: Barren Isles and Maintirano
Located off Madagascar’s west coast near Maintirano, the remote Barren Isles archipelago harbours vast fringing reefs and staggering levels of fish biomass. We’ve been working with the regional government and local communities since 2010 to develop a new marine protected area, set to be the largest in the western Indian Ocean region.
Traditional fishers trained as certified divers
The Barren Isles is an archipelago of nine islands in the Mozambique Channel off of Madagascar’s west coast. Its ecosystem is extraordinarily diverse, comprising vast coral reefs, offshore islands, seamounts, extensive mangrove forests, estuarine marshes, and coastal dunes backed by...
The Barren Isles – living on the edge of the world
Supported by the Blue Action Fund (BAF) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF), Blue Ventures and its implementing partners, the Aga Khan Foundation, Abalobi, MIHARI, and OSDRM recently began delivering a conservation and community engagement project with communities on the...
Catalysing community engagement: lessons learned from the Barren Isles
In 2018, communities in the Barren Isles established their first temporary octopus fishery closure. Now, they are taking the lead in local fisheries management efforts.
Every voice counts: a participatory approach to periodic fishery closures
Community-collected data inspires fishers in the Barren Isles archipelago to adapt their management strategy
Turtle fishing in the Barren Isles
A complex conservation issue
Opening day in the Barren Isles
Two fishing communities in the Barren Isles archipelago of western Madagascar recently closed part of their octopus fishing grounds for two months. Was the wait worth it? Caroline Holo tells the full story from opening day
World Mangrove Day across Madagascar
Celebrate the importance of mangroves with the communities and BV teams in Ambanja, Mahajamba, Maintirano and the Velondriake LMMA.
Visiting Andavadoaka: a community health learning exchange
After making the five day journey from Maintirano, Toalidy spent a month with Blue Ventures’ Safidy team in Andavadoaka learning new ways to support remote coastal communities.
Presenting fisheries data in the Barren Isles: a community engagement visit
The Blue Ventures fisheries team recently visited four new sites in the Barren Isles LMMA to present the results of the fin fish monitoring programme to the fishing communities.
Freediving fishers on a mission to map Barren Isles seagrass beds
Participatory mapping reaps dividends in the largest locally led marine protected area in the Western Indian Ocean.
Working across sectors for real change: community health workers advance marine management in their villages
As communities in Velondriake voted an unprecedented proportion of women and youth into the committee governing their locally managed marine area, our teams in Belo sur Mer and Maintirano have been busy training community health workers to engage more people in...
New partnership brings vital health services to isolated fishing settlements in the Barren Isles archipelago
Blue Ventures links up with JSI/MAHEFA to provide family planning options and basic healthcare to remote communities in the Indian Ocean’s largest locally managed marine area.
Putting Madagascar on the (Google) Map
by Leah Glass, Blue Carbon Project Manager, Madagascar I’m writing this blog whilst drifting down the Sambirano River in northwest Madagascar on a traditional pirogue. On a ‘normal’ work day I’d be on my way to visit one of mangrove...
Mandeha magnarato: a weekend fishing in Nosy Marify, Barren Isles
by Cecile Fattebert, Barren Isles Conservation Officer, Madagascar This summer I set foot in Madagascar for the first time in order to work with Blue Ventures, where we’re moving towards creating Madagascar’s largest protected area and the Indian Ocean’s largest community-run marine...
Staff Q&A with Florence Pichon, Maintirano & Barren Isles Project Coordinator
In the latest instalment in our series of staff Q&As, we ask Florence Pichon, Maintirano & Barren Isles Project Coordinator, some searching questions about science, conservation and superpowers… What is your job and academic background? I’m the Barren Isles project...