Why did you want to support Blue Ventures’ school scholarships?

I lived in Madagascar for more than ten years and witnessed a great proportion of the Malagasy population struggling with poverty in their everyday lives. While I was studying at a good school in the capital city of Antananarivo, many children were on the street, begging for food or money, or working from an early age to help support their families. Unfortunately during all of those years, I never really found a way to help them.

I left Madagascar after high school to complete my studies in the UK and, during these years in London, I realised how fortunate I am to have these educational opportunities and to be able to choose what I would like to do with my life. It’s a privilege that many Malagasy children do not have.

I found out about Blue Ventures’ work in Madagascar last year and I was very impressed. I had the chance to meet a few people from the BV team in Antananarivo, and I decided that it could be great to support the school scholarships programme in order to finally take a first step towards my goal of helping to alleviate poverty in Madagascar.

How did you come up with the idea of doing a sponsored bungee jump?

I’m part of the “Raising And Giving” society at my university and they recently organised a sponsored bungee jumping event. The idea was to fundraise for our chosen charities and get at least £80 each to do the jump. I thought it was the perfect occasion to raise money for Blue Ventures’ school scholarships, particularly because I’ve always been scared of heights, so it would be a big challenge for a great cause!

How did you organise your fundraising?

I decided to create a fundraising page on Virgin Money Giving a couple of weeks before the event. I personalised it by explaining the educational needs in Madagascar, and my own motivation for supporting Blue Ventures through this bungee jumping challenge. I then shared the page on as many social networks as possible. This was ideal to get my friends and family from Madagascar who are abroad to sort of do something together for the country.

The minimum amount I had to raise was £80 but my target was £500 which would enable at least seventeen children to go to school for a year. I wasn’t sure if I would reach it in such a short time but I was pleasantly surprised by the great support that I received, and word of mouth helped a lot.

What was the actual bungee jump like?

When the day of the bungee jump finally arrived, I was pretty stressed! I remember reading all sorts of articles and watching videos related to bungee jumping, just wondering if I would actually be able to do it, and I was very afraid of quitting…

When I was 225 feet above the ground on the platform, the safety instructor counted down to three and asked me to jump, but I couldn’t do it! He reassured me, saying, “don’t worry, I’ll count down again, just breathe deeply, and look at this beautiful day… three, two, one, jump!” I was still standing there, terrified. I could hear the crowd below shouting encouragements, and that helped me not to give up.

I was there for about 10 minutes more, hesitating because I didn’t want to jump, but I didn’t want to go down without jumping either. I even remember asking the safety instructor if he could push me, but of course he wasn’t allowed to do that!

Finally he asked me why I wanted to do the jump, and if I didn’t jump within the next ten seconds then we would have to go down. I realised this was my final step and people had donated because I was doing a personal challenge, so I went for it! The hardest part was deciding to jump and leaning towards the edge… the rest was simply sensational! As soon as I decided to jump, I leant forward and just fell. Being upside down, hanging in the sky, it was a beautiful feeling!

All I can say is that it was a great way to confront my fears, get a huge feeling of accomplishment and support a worthy cause in the process. I hope that other people will be inspired to do things to fundraise for children’s education in Velondriake because it’s easy to find the fun in fundraising!

If you would like to do something to fundraise for Blue Ventures’ school scholarships programme - an office bake sale, a sponsored bike ride, an auction of promises – then please do get in touch and we’ll help you to get everything set up! 

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What is your scientific background?

As an undergraduate I studied zoology, and spent my honours year poring over the fossil collections of the national museum of Scotland working to describe a new species of horseshoe crab, an amazing animal that once swam around what is now southern Scotland. (Hundreds of millions of years ago in the lower Carboniferous Scotland was a balmy tropical sea!) I then spent a year studying environmental management, before moving on to start my doctoral research in tropical marine biology, focusing on hard coral community ecology – marvellous stuff!

Why do you do what you do?

I guess I’ve always been an eager environmentalist, but I made the decision to focus my career specifically on marine conservation because of enormity of the issues facing our seas. There’s an overwhelming need for urgent action to address the immense challenges that our oceans are now facing. It’s this sense of urgency – which can be both compelling and often also frightening – that has always been my overriding motivation.

What is the best/worst thing about being a conservation scientist?

The best part is quite simply the dazzling sense of wonder that hits me each time I set foot on or under the water – whether it’s snorkelling in a kelp forest off the cold Scottish Atlantic coast, diving on a tropical reef, or even flying across the empty vastness of an ocean – the enormity, diversity and complexity of our seas can be intoxicating. And it’s not all about coral reefs. Just this week I was walking through a muddy mangrove swamp at low tide – a harsh hot environment with clouds of mosquitos and overly attentive bees – but even there the diversity of life living in the muddy sediment at my feet was simply mind boggling. Curious species of burrowing crabs I’d never seen before, rainbows of algae, seagrasses harbouring schools of juvenile fish schooling in the hot pools around my ankles, and of course the immense tangled mangrove trees themselves – it was magnificent.

The worst thing about being a conservation scientist is the knowledge that we’re still not doing enough to reverse the trend of decline that we’re seeing in our seas, our fisheries and our marine environment in general. The writing is on the wall, yet as a society we keep our heads in the sand and fail to recognise the true value of our oceans – our self-interest continues to trump the long-term interests of society and our environment. We desperately need to change the way we value our seas, to create new incentives to encourage people to follow the science, and take decisive action for a more sustainable future. We’re fighting against the clock to get this right.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

The knowledge that every so often our efforts pay off, and we’re able to make a difference that counts – be it through the creation of a new marine park, by influencing fisheries legislation, enabling some of the world’s poorest fishing families to send their children to school – often for the first time – or simply by changing the way people view the ocean.

What is your favorite species or group of species and why?

Easy – scleractinia! The hard corals are the building blocks of tropical reefs, the foundations upon which the planet’s most magnificent ecosystem is based. They are mesmerisingly beautiful and bewilderingly diverse. They’re so enormously productive that they can build entire geological structures – they shape coastlines and continents and can even be seen from space. Yet they’re also incredibly vulnerable – sensitive to the tiniest changes in their environment or ecosystem, and dependent for much of their energy on a complex relationship with algae that live within their tissues. In many ways they’re the canaries in the coal mine when it comes to climate change and the unprecedented global changes we’re unleashing on our atmosphere and oceans.

What would your science superpower be?

My dream would be to work out how to enable our species to photosynthesise. If we humans could feed ourselves from the sun we could finally put a halt to our rapacious consumption of life in our seas. And if that’s too farfetched my superpower would be to be able to digest cellulose – so we can live like dugongs!

What is one of the strangest things that has happened to you while working on conservation?

In April 2006 I was diving on a remote reef in the central Indian Ocean when I suddenly noticed that the cathedral of coral in front of me seemed to be smouldering as if it was on fire. The smoke was rising from individual colonies of fungiid mushroom corals – a small free living species that we found all over this particular reef. What I was observing was a coordinated spawning event – the first time that a synchronous daytime spawning had been observed in this species.

Al was recently nominated for the Tusk Conservation Award which celebrates an exceptional contribution to conservation over a lifetime. He is one of five finalists selected for demonstrating extraordinary commitment and having made a significant impact in their field of work. The winner will be announced in September.

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I left London very early on a cold and damp morning towards the end of April – both excited and a little apprehensive of what was to come. Having worked with BV for a year and a half, it was now high time that I got to see firsthand all the pioneering work that we do – so I was off to Madagascar! Excited because I was going to one of the most alluring places in the world for a conservationist, apprehensive because I was now about to the meet people I had spent a long time working with remotely – and also because it was going to be a long journey.

Leaving the somewhat chaotic streets of Toliara

17 hours after I left my flat in north London, I was in the capital city of Antananarivo. Not for long though, as 6 hours later I was catching another flight down to Toliara – our logistical base in Madagascar. It was time to meet the Toliara team! Of course everyone was lovely, and apart from the few people I had met in London, most were new (but not unfamiliar) faces. In typical fashion there was a power cut at the office so there was time to get to know the staff better – and to find out more about what they were working on.

Zebu browsing in a field

After a pleasant evening spent in the company of Taylor (Communications Officer) and Brian (Conservation Coordinator), it was time for another long journey, this time to our main project site in Andavadoaka – about 200km north of Toliara. I was joined by Rado (Terrestrial & Fisheries Scientist), who proceeded to (miraculously) fall asleep on the 8 hour drive. For me sleep was impossible because a) it was quite bumpy (the road is 90% sand), b) it was very hot, and c) most importantly I was fascinated by the world outside my dusty window. Having come from the end of a long, cold British winter, watching the glaring sun-drenched landscape whirl past was a marvel; from zebu (horned, humped cattle such as you might see in India) to sand dunes to fat baobabs to the first glimpse of the turquoise ocean. I even managed to take some photos, which was an achievement considering how much the car was moving.

That first sighting of azure water was magic

After what seemed like a very long time, we started to pass through villages I knew the names of, and once we passed through Befandefa, I knew we couldn’t be far from our destination. Andavadoaka was both familiar and alien to me, having been looking at site photos for a long time but never been to the place myself – I would suddenly glance on a beach scene, or the Club Aloalo hut, and have a sense of déjà-vu.

Soon we were pulling into Coco Beach, our base in the area, and being greeted by the expeditions staff who were a lot more tanned than I remember from their briefings in London. After being deposited in my hut, I went down to the bar, joined the staff and volunteers, and watched the sunset. A far cry from the busy streets of London, but I couldn’t wait to get stuck in with BV work in situ. Tonga soa!

The majestic baobab, the iconic tree of Madagascar

Up next from Jo’s time in Madagascar: Treasure Island…

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By Avanti Maluste, Tuck 2014

Meeting at Blue Ventures

After a great beach resort weekend (hey, it is spring break!), Team Blue Ventures was hard at work on Monday, making the most of our last few full days at the client site (Toliara, in Madagascar). On Monday, we met with the technician for Sarodrano to walk through his data collection gathering and aggregation process. Not surprisingly, given the villages served, this data is collected manually, inputted manually, and aggregated manually. This is a major concern for Blue Ventures as they plan on scaling the existing number of farmers as well as transfer responsibility of record keeping to the farmers and IOT (Indian Ocean Trepang, for-profit partner).

In the afternoon, we talked with Shawn Peabody, Blue Ventures’ country director for Madagascar. We discussed Blue Ventures’ role from a high level, making sure to understand the big picture of how this particular project fits into the mission.
Today, we met with the for-profit stakeholder in Blue Ventures’ supply chain: CopeFrito and their subsidiary, IOT. Blue Ventures currently serves as an intermediary for both seaweed and sea cucumber farming and their goal over the next three years is to transition existing farms to CopeFrito and IOT for those products respectively. From CopeFrito, we met with Ben Pascal and learned about his experience with transitioning villages from an NGO partner; it was critical to hear the challenges they faced during that time, and how they think about their data collection. From IOT, we met with Olivier Avalle to learn about how they are thinking about this transition – a real challenge given the dramatic increase in capacity (from 80k to 5M in a few years) and their lack of history with this kind of removal of the NGO from this process.

Tomorrow, we will meet with some of the local and regional microfinance institutions to learn about their role and their expectations for this transition. It will be our last full day in Toliara!

Tuck Students site visit

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A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend the American Museum of Natural History’s symposium on ecological and social resilience in island systems, which brought together marine managers, anthropologists and academics. I was there to share Blue Ventures’ innovative and pragmatic approach to building community resilience in southwest Madagascar through integrated Population-Health-Environment (PHE) activities. It was a pleasure connecting with others who work on these issues, and I wanted to share a couple thought-provoking themes…

Often, people researching and writing about resilience in rural coastal areas come to the conclusion that these areas are highly vulnerable to climate change. Lacking savings, alternative income sources, or well-built housing, and often without much government support, these communities can be strongly impacted by climate events. However, as several researchers argued at the symposium, what makes these communities vulnerable also makes them adaptable. Pointing to the fact that many communities have lived through cyclones and other destabilising events over many generations, they say communities are more adaptable then we give them credit for. For example, communities have been known to switch staple foods during a severe drought. Another example is housing construction – while houses made from local wood and leaves are more likely to be damaged, they can much more easily be rebuilt than a more robust concrete building.

I’ve witnessed flimsy houses in Andavadoaka destroyed by strong winds and waves, only to be rebuilt within a day, but I have a hard time thinking of this as true resilience.  If your home is destroyed each year by a cyclone or other major event, losing possessions and putting your family in danger, that isn’t resilience. Perhaps we do dramatise climate change vulnerability sometimes, but we have seen cyclone intensity and frequency increase over the last few years, and it certainly isn’t easy for these households to recover.

A second interesting theme to the symposium was how others think about social resilience. Here at Blue Ventures, we take a very pragmatic approach – providing families with access to family planning and community health education and supplies, and increasing income generation through octopus fishery management and aquaculture. Many of the people I heard from at the symposium relayed their efforts to increase social resilience through documenting traditional ecological knowledge – for example, interviewing elders about how to preserve yams in times of drought, or recording traditional names of fish. While Blue Ventures has done some recording of traditional ecological knowledge, including this 2006 report and recent interviews with community elders, we’ve haven’t really described this work as building social resilience before. Many of the people at the symposium were particularly interested in Blue Ventures’ pragmatic and integrated approach, so it seems like there is a lot that we can learn from each other.

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While in Andavadoaka a few months ago for the Velondriake Association’s election and first general assembly of 2013, I was lucky enough to catch the Safidy programme’s quarterly review and reproductive rights training session for its community-based distributors.

Community-based distributors are local women who are trained and supported by Blue Ventures to provide basic information and services relating to family planning, maternal and child health, and hygiene and sanitation within their villages as part of the Safidy programme. They offer various products including different contraceptives for those who wish to use them.

Safidy, which means “choice” or “freedom to choose” in Malagasy Vezo, takes a rights-based approach to reproductive health. This is underpinned by regular training sessions for community-based distributors, emphasising the fundamental right of all couples to be provided with the information and means to freely choose the number, timing and spacing of their children.

I think that the Safidy programme exemplifies BV’s approach to finding integrated solutions to conservation and sustainable development challenges. The hard work and dedication of the Safidy team and the 30 community-based distributors they work with is nothing short of inspirational; some of these women walked the length of a half-marathon through the oppressive heat of the spiny forest to attend this training, which is testament to their commitment to providing their villages with access to much-needed heath services.

In between planning sessions for the Velondriake Association’s meeting, I was able to capture some footage of the two-day training, which Fanja and Caroline explain a bit more about here. As conservationists, we need to realise that if we don’t address important health issues like lack of access to family planning, then our natural resources may not be able to sustain us for much longer.

The Safidy programme is part of Blue Ventures’ integrated Population-Health-Environment (PHE) approach which empowers coastal communities in southwest Madagascar to live healthily and sustainably with their unique marine environments. It involves women in fisheries management and aquaculture, in addition to health service delivery.

The post The choice is yours: Safidy reproductive rights training appeared first on Blue Ventures Field Diary.

A Chameleon

In the third of our series of Q&As with Blue Ventures staff, we ask Taylor Mayol, our Communications and Programme Development Officer, some searching questions about science, conservation and superpowers…

What is your scientific background?

Actually none at all! When I first arrived in Madagascar I couldn’t even tell you what the term ‘fisheries’ meant. Yet, this was precisely why I was hired – to translate scientific conservation language into everyday terms in order to effectively communicate to BV’s supporters and the wider conservation community.

Why do you do what you do?

I do what I do because it’s challenging, interesting and, quite frankly, because it’s not your average nine to five job. I get to live in southwest Madagascar – a place that has many challenges no doubt, but just as many opportunities for fun. For example, last weekend I went wakeboarding in the open ocean and a few weeks before that I went scuba diving for the first time! As the communications officer, I get to interact with all of our projects and I’ve learned more about conservation in the last year than I could have possibly imagined.

What is one of the strangest things that has happened to you while working in conservation?

Just living in Madagascar is pretty strange!

What is the best / worst thing about being a conservation scientist?

Well, I’m not exactly a conservation scientist (or even remotely really!) so I can’t answer that question. I can say, however, that the best part of working in communications is being able to shine some light on the great work my colleagues are doing. They spend all of their time hard at work on their projects, getting their hands dirty, and often don’t have time to share it with the rest of the world. That’s where I come in. I get to promote their work and provide a glimpse into what life is like here in Madagascar, for our staff and for the communities we work with.

 

The worst thing about my job is….inconsistent power. Power outages mean no internet, which is crucial for communications. But if that is the worst thing about my job, I am one lucky lady.

.What do you enjoy most about your job?

I love that I believe in our work. It is definitely possible to be dismayed by negative media surrounding conservation and those pushing against progress, but all in all I know that when I write an article about one of our projects, I mean every word. I’m not spouting nonsense for the sake of it. I’m writing because I know the manager of the project, the hard work they put into it and that it matters. I can say this because I’ve seen the results firsthand – and how these results affect communities.

Aside from that, the best perk is visiting our field sites in other parts of Madagascar. I’ve been to Belo sur Mer up the west coast, camped in remote villages that are really only accessible by boat, seen a mangrove reserve opening and attended Saturday school sessions in the village of Andavadoaka.

What is your favourite species or group of species and why?

Lemurs and chameleons. It may sound clichéd since these are Madagascar’s most famous animals, but lemurs and chameleons are just as awesome in person as they are in movies or photos. There is nothing cuter than a baby ring-tailed lemur clinging to its mother’s stomach and staring at you with big orange eyes, or hopping around and peeling open a juicy lychee. And while lemurs are basically the wild version of fluffy golden retriever puppies, chameleons are the Elvis Presley of reptiles. Chameleons are just plain cool. They can be as big as your forearm or as tiny as your pinky finger and have the ability to change colors. They can be brown, red, green, purple, pink, turquoise and have crazy sticky tongues.

What would your scientific superhero power be?

I would have the ability to change the appetite of the world’s population based upon the productivity of a fishery. For example, everyone would develop a temporary dislike for the taste of tuna until tuna stocks recuperated.

I’d also make all endangered species magically live on forever!

A Lemur in Madagascar

Learn more about Taylor and her work

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Blue Forests Workshop

This article by Mairead Rocke was originally published on the Blue Carbon Portal: you can read the original post here

On the 17th and 18th of January 2013, the validation workshop for the GEF Blue Forests project was held at the UNEP headquarters in Nairobi. This project is entitled ‘Standardized Methodologies for Carbon Accounting and Ecosystem Services Valuation of Blue Forests’. It is a four-year project, which aims to demonstrate how the incorporation of carbon and other ecosystem services values into local, national and international markets and coastal management plans can ensure the long-term protection of Blue Forest ecosystems.

Blue Forests are coastal ecosystems, mainly mangroves, salt marshes and seagrasses, which typically contain higher carbon stocks per unit area than tropical rainforests. However, Blue Forests are not only important to climate change mitigation. Coastal communities value these ecosystems for a number of different reasons, ranging from the food security that might be provided by fisheries to the protection they offer from storms and flooding. Despite this, Blue Forests represent one of the highest rates of ecosystem loss globally (Nelleman et al., 2009). Therefore, identification of how these different ecological, economic, social and cultural values may be used to sustain the restoration and conservation of coastal ecosystems is timely.

The validation workshop marked the first formal meeting of project partners, who discussed matters relating to the Full-Sized Project Proposal (FSP) that will be submitted to the Global Environment Facility (GEF) in March. Essentially, the FSP consists of the documentation that is reviewed by the GEF and which subsequently determines whether a project is approved. As the executing agency, GRID-Arendal chaired the workshop alongside UNEP, the implementing agency.

Over the course of the project, methodologies and approaches for carbon accounting and ecosystem services valuation will be explored in the following intervention sites:

1. Madagascar (Blue Ventures)
2. Ecuador (Conservation International)
3. Indonesia (Indonesian Ministry)
4. Mozambique (World Wildlife Fund)
5. Abu Dhabi (AGEDI)

Three Advisory Panels, specializing in carbon science, ecosystem services and policy, will offer coordinated support to these interventions and assist in bringing project findings to an international platform. The panels are led by Duke University, UNEP and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) respectively.

The validation workshop identified the priorities to be addressed moving forward. The responsibilities and expectations of each project partner and component were discussed, and an immediate plan of action to ensure that these are incorporated into the project proposal was agreed. It marked a milestone achievement in the development of the GEF project, currently the largest and most comprehensive global effort to implement Blue Forest concepts through management on the ground.

Reference:

Nellemann, C., Corcoran, E., Duarte, C. M., Valdés, L., De Young, C., Fonseca, L., Grimsditch, G. (Eds). 2009. Blue Carbon. A Rapid Response Assessment. United Nations Environment Programme, GRID-Arendal, www.grida.no

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By Avanti Maluste, Tuck 2014

Visiting the Sea Cucumber farm

We hit the ground running with Blue Ventures! Our first activity was a visit to Sarodrano, about 1.5hrs away from Blue Ventures’ headquarters in Toliara.  Sarodrano is one of three villages Blue Ventures works with to grow and harvest sea cucumbers and seaweed.  In the afternoon, we walked out about 600 meters off the beach coast to the sea cucumber pens (through beautifully clear and warm water) and then another 500 meters or so to the seaweed farms. We got to see first-hand the setup in place and ask on-the-spot questions about the supply chain details. After an amazing lunch of fresh fish, we conducted interviews with the 8 teams in Sarodrano involved with Blue Ventures.  It was a great opportunity to get primary data on some of the key questions Blue Ventures wants to answer.

But we weren’t done yet! The sea cucumbers should be harvested during the low tide – right now, that means 1:30 AM harvest time! We headed out with headlamps under the most incredible starry night any of us have ever seen. Team BV participated in the harvest of 513 market-size cucumbers (each greater than 350 grams), with a value of 1.5M AR (700 USD) After being out until about 3AM, we got up at 6AM to head out to the Indian Ocean Trepang (for-profit partner of Blue Ventures) sea cucumber nurseries and their under-construction hatchery. This afternoon, we will head out to IOT’s current hatchery, as well as see the seaweed storage facility.

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I have just returned from my annual trip to Belize to work with our team there to review health and safety policies, plan new projects, and meet partners and friends of Blue Ventures.

This year, my visit also took in some tourism for a week after my work duties were complete, and for the first time, my four-year-old son Gillie, joined me for an overseas trip.

Blue Ventures has run marine conservation expeditions for 10 years, beginning in Madagascar in 2003 and adding Belize as an expedition site in 2010. Our expeditions contribute to our research efforts, and we have demonstrated that tourism can play a major part in conservation by improving awareness as well as providing manpower and funding for projects. We work tirelessly to encourage responsible and ethical tourism, develop and support good practice, and promote the best that tourism can offer. This blog is about the tourism experience that I had during my trip to Belize and will hopefully highlight this exciting but lesser known destination, and some of the great experiences that tourists can have in Belize.

The lead-up to the trip was full of excitement for my son, weeks of the question “when are we going to Belize?” did become a little wearing and I was worried that the reality would not match his anticipation. I needn’t have been concerned as Belize delivered a tourism experience well beyond my expectations.

Our trip took in three destinations: Crooked Tree, Sarteneja, and Maya Beach near Placencia.

Crooked Tree is a village in northern Belize district, only 30 minutes drive from the international airport, surrounded by a wildlife sanctuary with a lagoon full of bird life at its centre. As we struggled to recover from jet-lag, our efforts to look around the wildlife sanctuary were limited but the viewing deck and views from our cabana at Crooked Tree Lodge gave us ample opportunity to see hundreds of birds; parrots, waders, birds of prey, vultures and kingfishers all entertained us during our stay but the huge Jabiru Stork was the highlight.

From Crooked Tree, we took the bone-shuddering Northern Highway through Orange Walk and Little Belize to Sarteneja. The road meanders through farm country where my son mistook Mennonites for cowboys, and sugar cane fields dominate the landscape.

Sarteneja is where Blue Ventures’ expeditions begin, and our home in Belize since 2010. Sarteneja is a quiet fishing village in Corozal District, it is relatively remote due to the lure of the sea and Cayes to the south and the poor roads, but nonetheless the area has tourism opportunities, great hospitality and much to offer.

On the outskirts of Sarteneja is the Shipstern Nature Reserve where we spent two nights staying in the guesthouse that was built in 2012. The guesthouse is clean and comfortable, the food is great, and most importantly it is right next to the forest. Morning bird walks can be conducted straight from the guesthouse front door, and the observation tower, which gives views from above the tree canopy, is just 50 metres away.

Tourism revenue helps to finance this reserve and also the co-management of other protected areas in Belize that Shipstern work in. The relative isolation of Sarteneja limits the numbers of tourists to the Shipstern Nature Reserve, a shame for the reserve and also for tourists missing out on a great wildlife experience. The wonderful team of rangers and guides at Shipstern, led by Heron Moreno, offer an array of interesting walks and tours and some exciting trips such as the night tour of the lagoon, spotting Morelet’s Crocodiles by lamplight from a canoe and climbing into bat caves as the winged mammals zipped past our heads. Both father and son were enthralled.

One of the projects that the team at Shipstern are focusing on is planting tree species that are affected by illegal logging. The reserve has a nursery for mahogany and they plant within the reserve and at schools to raise awareness of the issue. My son had the opportunity to plant one of the saplings and a plaque now announces his contribution to the reforestation.

From Shipstern we moved to Sarteneja, where we stayed with a Belizean family in a homestay. Blue Ventures uses the Sarteneja Homestay Association to accommodate all of our volunteers during the two weeks that they spend in the village. Homestays offer an authentic Belizean family experience, great food, good company and most importantly allow us to direct much needed income directly into the pockets of community members.

I stayed, for a second time, in the home of Ivett and Ricky Verde and their four sons, and they greeted us like long-lost family members. Gillie felt so at home after three days that he joined them for a family birthday party and had to be dragged away, protesting that it wasn’t late, at the end of the night.

I think that homestays are one of the best ways to experience the life and culture of a country, and when they are well run they are also comfortable and affordable. They also have huge economic benefits to communities. In Belize, Blue Ventures has been responsible for nearly 3,000 tourist nights in homestays and over US$50,000 of revenue for the Sarteneja Homestay Association. The association is part of the Sarteneja Alliance for Conservation and Development (SACD) and is one of a number of alternative livelihood initiatives in the area. Homestays can be booked through Sarteneja Adventure Tours.

From Sarteneja we travelled south on the Northern Highway and then followed the Hummingbird Highway through the mountains and forests of Cayo District to Maya Beach in Stann Creek District. The highway deserves its poetic name and we delighted in the beautiful views, miles of emptiness and inviting roadside eateries. Regular emergency stops to avoid turtles, snakes and iguanas added to the excitement.

Maya Beach is a quiet stretch of the Placencia peninsula and we spent a week at the Maya Beach Hotel enjoying the sea, pool and great food. The restaurant at the hotel is very good and I was particularly pleased to see Lionfish on the specials menu there. Blue Ventures is working with partner NGOs, fishing cooperatives and fishers to deal with the problems associated with this invasive and voracious predator that has reached the Caribbean sea where it is reproducing at an alarming rate and extending its range. Our current focus is to work with fishing cooperatives to develop an export market for the fish as developing a new viable commercial export initiative would benefit Belizean fishers while reducing the population of this invasive and destructive species.

At Maya beach we watched Brown Pelicans fly past our balcony in huge numbers, Magnificent Frigate Birds swirl in the thermals above us, and heard raccoons scampering across our roof at night. When we encountered a dolphin on a sea kayak trip and a scorpion outside our room one night, our trip had officially become “the best holiday ever” in the life of a four-year-old.

On our penultimate day at Maya Beach, we took a boat trip south to Toledo District and Monkey River, where there are birds in abundance and Howler Monkeys live up to their name. En route we encountered Antillean Manatees (a subspecies of the West Indian Manatee) in the lagoon, munching on seagrass and creating plumes of silt with which we could identify their progress and easily anticipate their next visit to the surface.

On our last day, as we headed north on the Hummingbird Highway to the international airport, we stopped at Belize Zoo, the self-proclaimed “best little zoo in the world”. It was definitely worth the visit and is full of the wildlife highlights of Belize.

As we dropped off our rental car and walked towards the international airport, my son declared his wish never to leave Belize and at that moment I admit I was in full agreement.

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