Category: Belo-sur-Mer
Our work in Belo sur Mer on Madagascar’s west coast started in 2009, and currently focuses on supporting coastal communities to establish periodic mangrove fishery reserves in the area. Since 2013, we’ve branched into community-based aquaculture and reproductive health, as part of our integrated approach to marine conservation.
PHE arrives in Belo sur Mer!
By Vik Mohan, Medical Director Last month I visited Belo sur Mer to witness the excellent progress that Lison Garrel has already made in implementing our new Safidy community health programme in the area, integrating it into our existing community-based mangrove...
My village outreach tour experience with the Safidy team in Velondriake
By Lison Garrel, Safidy (Community Health) Programme Coordinator, Belo sur Mer Last month the Belo sur Mer team travelled to Andavadoaka to attend the annual Blue Ventures conference. We spent four productive days catching up with colleagues from all over Madagascar,...
Uncovering family planning needs in Belo sur Mer
By Lison Garrel, Safidy (Community Health) Programme Coordinator, Belo sur Mer My involvement with Blue Ventures started at the beginning of 2013, with a two-month mission to Belo sur Mer on Madagascar’s west coast. The aim: to conduct an assessment...
A journey of crab catching in the mangrove channel
by Sylvia Paulot, Blue Forests Scientist, Madagascar As mangrove conservation officer, I have visited many villages in mangrove forests, and talked much with the local people, but I have never really experienced first-hand the daily life of a fisher from one...
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...
Is it a bird, is it a plane? No, it’s bat fish and sea robin! The bemused wanderings of a marine biologist lost at sea…
by our anonymous contact with BatFish & SeaRobin, Madagascar During a post dinner discussion with a colleague in Belo sur Mer, he mentioned that during his trip to the islands of Kirindy Mite, approximately 20 km west of the village...
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...
Setting sail: a brief look at migration in southwest Madagascar
By Kame Westerman, Velondriake LMMA Coordinator, Madagascar Human migration can be influenced by a number of factors – political, social, economic, physical, and even cultural. In southwest Madagascar, where Blue Ventures works, migration is an important factor to consider when...
Malagasy celebrations: Part one
By Samuel Blyth, Independent Researcher, Madagascar Belo-sur-Mer and the surrounding communities have a lot to offer residents, tourists and the occasional independent researcher, such as myself. Having been here for over two months, it is about time I shared some...
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...
Guitarfish a Go-Go- Bribes and barrages in Belo-sur-Mer
By Brian Jones, Community Research Coordinator, Belo-sur-mer, Madagascar. You’ve got to admire the mettle of people who, despite the cards being seemingly insurmountably stacked against them, can still stick to their guns and stand up for what they believe in....
30 minutes of fame in Mombasa
By Brian Jones, Community Research Coordinator, Belo-sur-mer, Madagascar. It’s 12:30am, and I’ve just finished talking to myself in the mirror of my hotel room, nestled in a corner of what is probably the best watered garden in all of Mombasa,...
Where the trees have teeth…
By Charlie Gough, Marine Research Coordinator, Belo-sur-Mer, Madagascar. The word “swamp” conjures vivid images of squelching muddy bogs, sulphurous eruptions, and mosquitos laden with fever inducing parasites. However the mangrove swamps of western Madagascar have a much more ethereal quality...
Diving, Dolphins and a Discodoris!
By Charlie Gough, Marine Research Coordinator, Belo-sur-mer, Madagascar. Christmas and the New Year was an eventful time for the Blue Ventures Belo sur Mer dive team. Joined by Andavadoaka staff member Goff and BV veteran Dr Garth Cripps, the Belo...