Category: Don’t Miss
Some of the best posts from our archive!
Staff Q&A with Alasdair Harris, Founder and Research Director
In the fourth instalment in our series of Q&As with Blue Ventures staff, we ask Alasdair Harris, our Founder and Research Director, some searching questions about science, conservation and superpowers… What is your scientific background? As an undergraduate I studied...
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...
When there are no more fish in the sea
Cuaming Island, Philippines Rogelio Angco traces the neat rows of numbers with his finger as he recounts the details of the ‘Barangay Profile’; the chart framed above his desk. This table keeps a meticulous record of the makeup of the...
Staff Q&A with Olivier Raynaud, Maintirano and Barren Isles Project Coordinator
In the first instalment in our series of Q&As with Blue Ventures staff, we ask Olivier Raynaud, our Maintirano and Barren Isles Project Coordinator, some searching questions about science, conservation and superpowers… What is your scientific background? My academic background...
Life in the mangrove forest: what happens exactly?
by Zo Andriamahenina, Blue Forests Research Assistant, Madagascar My first time working in the mangrove forest was in February 2012. Before, I had never walked into one, so I could not picture what we would see or find in this...
The overwhelming economic case for protecting our seas
This post first appeared on the @SynchEarth blog on 5 April 2013 by Alasdair Harris, Research Director, UK Easter weekend saw the end of the UK government’s 3-month public consultation on the designation of new marine conservation areas around the coasts...
Antanandahy: where the women rule the mangroves
by Sylvia Paulot and Kate England, Blue Forests team, Madagascar After winding its way west, Madagascar’s Tsiribihina River empties into the Mozambique Channel in a maze of tributaries entwined with mangroves. At the end of last year, Sylvia and Kate...
The most beautiful adventure: My first trip beyond Madagascar
by Rado Lebely, Terrestrial & Fisheries Scientist and EDGE Fellowship winner, Madagascar Who would think that I’ve never been outside of Madagascar, never travelled by plane and never seen an international airport? This reality changed when I was accepted to join...
Have you ever encountered a live sea cucumber?
by Taylor Mayol, Communications and Programme Development Officer, Madagascar I hadn’t either until just a few months ago. I knew I was in for a wild ride during my fellowship after I dove into a crystal clear turquoise bay in...
Beach seining and how it damages the marine environment
Photos by Garth Cripps (© Blue Ventures 2012) Beach seine fishing is one of the most destructive fishing gears practiced in many areas of the tropical indo-Pacific. For the past five years Blue Ventures has been working closely with Rare...
Sailing towards the Barren Isles locally managed marine protected area: tackling the wind and forging ahead
by Olivier Raynaud, Maintirano & Barren Isles Project Coordinator, Madagascar In our quest for a durable and efficient management configuration, in order to preserve and organise the utilisation of the Barren Isles’ precious ecosystems, Blue Ventures has had to address local...
Making moves towards Madagascar’s first mangrove carbon project
by the Blue Forests Team, Madagascar Madagascar’s 5,600 km coastline includes Africa’s third largest extent of mangroves: an estimated 213,000 hectares! These “blue” forests take and store significant amounts of carbon dioxide and support a diverse and in many cases...
Mangrove madness and reserve success in Antanimanimbo
by Jérémie Bossert, Belo sur Mer Conservation Coordinator, Madagascar It’s the 23rd of September 2012, and dawn is breaking on the fifth reserve opening in the Belo sur Mer region, today in the village of Antanimanimbo. After six months without any...
Ravao’s story: from 12 children to community health worker
By Dr Vik Mohan, Medical Director, UK I recently spent a hectic and intense couple of weeks in the village of Andavadoaka, the village where our community health programme is based, during my annual visit to Madagascar. Although I founded this initiative...
BV lovin
by Taylor Mayol, Communications and Programme Development Officer, Madagascar August is a particularly special month for Blue Ventures’ (BV) Madagascar based staff. Each year the entire team journeys across the expanse Madagascar to our main base of operations in the...