Category: Madagascar
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...
The highs and lows of the octopus project
by Sophie Andriamalala, Southwest Regional Coordinator, Madagascar For the last two weeks the octopus team in Toliara have spent 10 hours a day staring at our computer screens and cleaning, checking and organising over 900 notebooks filled to the brim with...
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...
Maintirano’s moment of glory: the Journée Nationale de la Pêche et de l’Aquaculture
by Olivier Raynaud, Maintirano and Barren Isles Project Coordinator, Madagascar September 19th to 21st 2012 found our little town in quite a frenzy as it hosted the National Day for Fishing and Aquaculture (JNPA). Typically, the narrow streets of Maintirano...
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...
Blue forests: behind the scenes…
by Samir Gandhi, Blue Forests Research Assistant, Madagascar A lot has changed for me in 12 months, undoubtedly for the better. Just over a year ago I was stuck in a dead-end office job; now, I am working for Blue Ventures...
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...
Schools (not) out for summer
by Marzia Garin, Education and Scholarships Coordinator, Madagascar It’s September in Andavadoaka, and like many places across the world, the school year is about to begin. However, unlike many places across the world, these students are genuinely excited about the...
From Toliara’s sights to Hong Kong’s bright lights
by Sophie Benbow, Southwest Regional Coordinator, Madagascar Arriving in Hong Kong direct from Toliara, southwest Madagascar highlighted some fairly stark contrasts. While Toliara is in fact the sixth largest city in Madagascar, bright lights and fast cars it is not....
Mission possible
by Viviane Jeannie, Scholars Coordinator, Madagascar Part of my job as scholarship coordinator is to purchase school materials for each new school year for all of our sponsored students. In the 2012 – 2013 school year, that meant shopping for...
Calling all mothers: Safidy has a new home and maternal & child health programme!
by Dr Clarisse Razanamampionona, Safidy’s Doctor, and Samantha Cockburn, Medical Elective Student. Safidy is part of Blue Ventures’ integrated Population, Health, and Environment (PHE) approach to conservation in the Velondriake area of southwest Madagascar. Safidy, which means “choice” or “freedom...
A message from Madagascar’s largest mangrove forest
by Trevor Jones, Remote Sensing Scientist, Madagascar Greetings from Mahajamba bay, home of Madagascar’s largest mangrove ecosystem. The Blue Ventures Blue Forests team has been stationed here since early August conducting a month long field campaign. Hosted by and working...
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...
War and peace: talking about the Barren Isles
by Olivier Raynaud, Maintirano & Barren Isles Project Coordinator, Madagascar I’ve just arrived in the little town of Maintirano as the new project coordinator for the Barren Isles Marine Protected Area (MPA). My first impression is most definitely that Maintirano...