Category: Madagascar
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...
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...
What is the probability……?
By Charlie Gough, Marine Research Coordinator, Belo-sur-mer, Madagascar. The last week of November, and the dust bowl city of Toliara was the location for the 1st Parfish workshop to be held in Madagascar. Parfish, a participatory approach to stock assessment,...
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...
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,...
Madagascar conservationist receives Georgetown Masters for pioneering work in coastal conservation
Madagascar conservationist Gildas Andriamalala has been awarded a Masters degree in Communication from Georgetown University, Washington DC, for his work promoting community-based marine conservation in his home country. As part of his Masters, Gildas developed an ambitious social marketing campaign...
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...
Guests from Belo-sur-mer visit Velondriake
Over the last several days, Velondriake committee members welcomed more than twenty guests from Blue Ventures’ second site in Belo-sur-mer, located north of Andavadoaka. The group consisted of members of several local communities, representatives of an environmental group and Madagascar...
School scholarship recipients start the new school year
By Kame Westerman, Velondriake MPA Project Coordinator. In Velondriake, only 34% of children under the age of 16 currently attend school, and this is usually only primary school; very few remain for secondary education. Dropout rates are high primarily due...
Velondriake community members and Blue Ventures begin tortoise monitoring
By Kame Westerman, Velondriake MPA Project Coordinator. The unique spiny forest thicket of southwestern Madagascar is home to the critically endangered spider tortoise (Pyxis arachnoids), and the region of Lamboara – located in southern Velondriake,- boasts one of the most...
In praise of the situation report!
By Kathleen Edie, Volunteer & Expedition Coordinator. Some will lament, others will cheer that the village of Andavadoaka has joined the digital age. It seems that after 7 long years of twice weekly satellite phone exchanges, the much maligned and...
The Girl Effect
This compelling video premiered at the Clinton Global Initiative Summit in New York in Sept 2010, as part of talks on the UN’s Millennium Development Goals. It is a beautifully crafted film, clearly presenting the choice we face. We often...