Where there was once destruction, comes new life
By Matt Hitchiner, Tampolove Research Site Manager, Tampolove, Madagascar. Despite local tales of a monster dwelling within the depths of the Tampolove mangrove forest, this myth has evidently done little to dissuade people from entering and cutting down substantial areas...
Less than two weeks to go in BCDC…
By Steph Remion, BV Belize Volunteer, Sarteneja, Belize. Less than two weeks to go in Bacalar Chico Dive Camp (BCDC)… Belize it or not, despite living in wooden huts, washing with cold water, and having only three hours of electricity...
Would you BELIZE it???
By Gaz Phillips, Expedition Leader, Sarteneja, Belize. Would you BELIZE it??? A manatee or two or three or …………….. The weather can sometimes blow hard on the Caribbean coast making diving the outer reef a little treacherous. Despair not as...
BV Hosts Annual Open Day
By Kame Westerman, Velondriake MPA Project Coordinator, Andavadoaka, Madagascar. On Saturday, February 26th, Blue Ventures hosted an annual Open Day celebration in Andavadoaka to showcase our work to the local communities. In the BV classroom, marine conservation videos captivated audiences...
BV Belize Primary School Teaching in Sarteneja
By Sarah Adams, Expedition Manager, Sarteneja, Belize. The theme for BV Belize primary school teaching session this expedition was conservation and natural resources. We accompanied 25 pupils from the Standard V class at Sarteneja’s RC School to Shipstern Nature Reserve...
BV Belize joins Seagrass Net Survey
By Sarah Adams, Expedition Manager, Sarteneja, Belize. Blue Ventures Belize staff and volunteers joined the Belize Fisheries Department in January’s Seagrass Net survey. The Fisheries Department have a base in Bacalar Chico, at the San Juan Ranger Station, and Blue...
Blue Ventures helps local tour guides refresh their first aid skills.
By Garry Phillips, Dive Manager, Sarteneja, Belize. Four members of the Sarteneja Tour guides association (STGA) recently took part in the Emergency first responder course. They require a First aid qualification to be able to renew their guides licence. BV...
Boka boka, coffee and a long wait…
By Charlie Moffat, BV Volunteer, Andavadoaka, Madagascar. Turtle hunting is illegal in Madagascar, but despite this, BV have found that a huge amount of turtle hunting continues – the estimated catch of turtles in Southwest Madagascar is between 10,000 and16,000...
Latest from Velondriake – octopus reserves open and community-based monitoring gets underway
By Kame Westerman, Velondriake MPA Project Coordinator, Andavadoaka, Madagascar. On Saturday, Feb 5th, four temporary octopus reserves in northern Velondriake opened after a two month closure. The reserves were officially opened with a blessing from the ancestors and well over...
A Belizean adventure
By Jodi Burley, Blue Ventures Belize Volunteer.
Blue Ventures hosts guests from neighbouring Comorian islands
By Kame Westerman, Velondriake MPA Project Coordinator, Andavadoaka, Madagascar. The success of Blue Ventures and Velondriake in southwest Madagascar has garnered growing interest from other conservation organizations wanting to learn about community conservation in this context. Recently, we had two...
Velondriake General Assembly meeting – local governance in action
By Kame Westerman, Velondriake MPA Project Coordinator, Andavadoaka, Madagascar. The Velondriake marine managed area is governed by representatives from each of the twenty-five villages that are encompassed by its boundaries. Twice a year, these 65 representatives come together to take...
Beolovo Permanent Reserve Inauguration
By Kame Westerman, Velondriake MPA Project Coordinator. The zebu (cow) lies in the shadow of an expansive tamarind tree, as if resigned to fate – feet tied, breathing deeply, slowly, eyes only half-open. It had been led to this place...
BV’s Lalao visits Mombasa
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...
A visit to Belize
By Richard Nimmo, BV Managing Director. I have just returned from a whistle-stop tour of Belize in which I visited all of Blue Ventures’ project partners and spent time in our host village of Sartegna and at our Expedition site...