by Kame Westerman, Velondriake MPA Project Coordinator, Madagascar Although located hundreds of miles away in the Mozambique Channel, villages within the Velondriake Locally Managed Marine Area (LMMA) felt the effects of cyclone Funso’s outer edges last week. A recent report estimated … Continue reading
by Shanta Barley, Field Scientist, Madagascar When Ryan Walker, a biologist based at the Open University, and his team crawled on their hands and knees through 60 kilometres of clothes-shredding, hair-plucking spiny forest between Toliara and the Mangoky River, racking … Continue reading
By Christi Turner, Education & Youth Outreach Coordinator Does anyone remember the cartoon movie Ferngully: the Last Rainforest? I’ll never forget watching it as a child, and starting to think about the disappearing forests on the other side of the … Continue reading
By Lalao Aigrette, Coastal resources Manager. From the 22nd of November to the 4th of December 2010, I attended a regional training course on Marine Protected Areas management in Western Indian Ocean (WIO) held in Mombasa, Kenya. The training was … Continue reading
By Brian Jones, Community Research Coordinator , Belo-sur-mer, Madagascar. In social marketing terminology it’s referred to as an “aperture”- a point in time when you have your target audience’s undivided attention, and your message will be most effective, soaked up … Continue reading
Madagascar conservationist Gildas Andriamalala has been awarded a Masters degree in Communication from Georgetown University, Washington DC, for his work promoting community-based marine conservation in his home country. As part of his Masters, Gildas developed an ambitious social marketing campaign … Continue reading
By Shawn Peabody, Madagascar Locally Managed Marine Area (LMMA) Coordinator. I travelled to Mombasa, Kenya last week to attend a workshop developing a proposal to investigate the role that marine ecosystem services play in poverty alleviation around the Indian Ocean. … Continue reading
By Kame Westerman, Velondriake MPA Project Coordinator. The unique spiny forest thicket of southwestern Madagascar is home to the critically endangered spider tortoise (Pyxis arachnoids), and the region of Lamboara – located in southern Velondriake,- boasts one of the most … Continue reading
By Kame Westerman, Project Coordinator. From Friday to Sunday a group of fishers from Diego (in northern Madagascar) visited to learn about Velondriake’s creation, evolution, and activities. The group of 13 visited sea cucumber and algae farmers , a permanent … Continue reading
by Kame Westerman, Project Coordinator, Andavadoaka. Standing on Split Rock, with the high-tide watermark well above my head, I’m astonished at how much the tide changes throughout the day; only five hours ago, these rocks that I’m now surrounded by … Continue reading