Talking ‘pweza’ (octopus) on Pemba Island, Zanzibar
By Brian Jones, Conservation Coordinator, Toliara, Madagascar (Photos by Brian Jones and Jo Hudson) As far as reccie trips go, there are worse places to be sent than Pemba Island, Zanzibar. Though the coast of southwest Madagascar holds a special place in...
On the road: tales from your semi-nomadic Conservation Coordinator
By Brian Jones, Conservation Coordinator, Toliara, Madagascar (All photos courtesy of Brian Jones) After almost six years of living in remote villages throughout Madagascar, the modern amenities of Toliara, like hot showers and wifi, were a welcome relief when I...
Andika sur Mer reserve opening: a photo diary
Andika-sur-Mer, a vezo fishing village of just over 200 people located about 20 kilometers south of Morondava on Madagascar’s west coast, closed their first temporary mangrove reserve in December of 2011. In this photo slide-show, our Conservation Coordinator, Brian Jones,...
Staff Q&A with Brian Jones, Conservation Coordinator
In the sixth instalment in our series of Q&As with Blue Ventures staff, we ask Brian Jones, our Conservation Coordinator, some searching questions about science, conservation and superpowers… What is your scientific background? I studied Biology at Penn State University,...
The choice is yours: Safidy reproductive rights training
By Brian Jones, Conservation Coordinator, Toliara, Madagascar 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...
A much needed repose
By Brian Jones, Conservation Coordinator, Madagascar Living in paradise ain’t always easy. Sometimes you just need to… get away. Nowhere better to do that than in my hometown in eastern Pennsylvania in the middle of winter! Huh? Contradictory as that...
Kayaks (and kava) to Korea: an insider’s perspective at the IUCN’s World Conservation Congress
by Brian Jones, Conservation Coordinator, Madagascar We’re seated on the floor in a circle at the Blue Planet Pavilion on the 3rd floor of the International Conference Centre in Jeju-Do, South Korea. Confused passers-by bump into each other and turn...
Lôlô in the limelight at the fano (turtle) festival in Andranopasy
by Brian Jones, Community Research Coordinator, Madagascar I can’t think of anyone who deserved a t-shirt more than Lôlô… a few hours ago he was in tears after one of our guys, Toto, let it slip to him that he...
The patsa express comes to Antanimanimbo (though I would have never noticed it)
By Brian Jones, Belo-sur-Mer Project Coordinator, Madagascar If the village of Antanimanimbo had a street, they’d be dancing in it. The annual migration of patsa (Acetes erythraeus for you sciency types), a tiny shrimp sometimes referred to as “paste shrimp”, has...
Reading the stars under Belo-sur-Mer
By Brian Jones, Community Research Coordinator, Belo-sur-Mer, Madagascar It was early May when we were planning our upcoming activities for the next two months, what with the pending mid-June departure of Charlie, our fearless leader and project coordinator here in...
Lighting up the night in western Madagascar
By Brian Jones, Conservation Project 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,...
Seeing is Believing-Western Madagascar’s first community exchange for marine conservation
I feared a revolt as I brought our group of weary travelers together at dusk, and told them that we’d be having our first evening session with the Velondriake Association committee members that very night. The response from the 16...