Category: Velondriake
Velondriake is Madagascar’s first locally managed marine area, established in 2006 by a network of communities located around the village of Andavadoaka on the southwest coast. Our work in the Velondriake area encompasses sustainable fisheries management, sea cucumber and seaweed aquaculture and community health, as part of our integrated approach to marine conservation.
Herizo’s mission: supporting community data collectors in Southwest Madagascar
Blue Ventures’ Data Management Assistant, Herizo Rafanomezantsoa, regularly visits villages along the Southwest coast of Madagascar to ensure that the data collectors have everything they need to successfully monitor the octopus fisheries.
Helping Babies Breathe: reducing newborn deaths in Velondriake
Volunteer medic Emily Clark revisits Andavadoaka with Dr Alison Leaf to train public health staff in vital neonatal care.
What global conservation lessons can be learnt from Madagascar?
In this week’s blog we pass the mic to a global expert on marine conservation, IUCN's Professor Dan Laffoley, who visited our programmes in Madagascar earlier this year.
Coral bleaching: a volunteer’s perspective
Our Madagascar volunteer Sophie Plant has now witnessed coral bleaching first hand, an experience she found shocking, but also inspiring.
El Niño explained: The global weather phenomenon that contributes to coral bleaching
Our Andavadoaka volunteer Sophie Plant, who has now seen coral bleaching firsthand, shares her knowledge on the role of El Niño in global bleaching events
From Madagascar to Mexico: shared experience, stronger fisheries
Whether you call it pulpo, horita or octopus, community exchanges help build stronger fisheries and new perspectives for coastal communities.
Corals in crisis: monitoring the third global bleaching event in southwest Madagascar
This summer Blue Ventures volunteers and staff in the remote fishing village of Andavadoaka in southwest Madagascar have been enjoying warm waters and calm weather. However, beneath the waves the picture is less idyllic. Where once we dived on reefs...
Elections bring new leaders and energy to governing Madagascar’s first locally managed marine area
Women and youth now make up a resounding 85% of Velondriake’s management structure! As turmoil returned to Malagasy high politics last month, the Velondriake Association – responsible for the governance of Madagascar’s flagship Locally Managed Marine Area (LMMA) – demonstrated...
Velondriake villages stake their claim to mangrove conservation
This week sees both International Forests Day and World Water Day - what better way to explore the intertwined nature of the two than celebrating mangroves - incredible areas where the forest meets the sea.
Unrivaled: a celebration day for the girls club of Andavadoaka
Women in Velondriake are becoming increasingly dynamic and motivated to make change, and girls are, at the same time, the result and the future of this expanding movement.
Aquaculture in profile – Mme Luciene: “I want to be able to send my children to university”
The livelihoods and cultural identity of Vezo people in southwest Madagascar are intimately intertwined with the marine environment. Vezo livelihoods, however, are increasingly threatened by overfishing and mangrove deforestation, largely driven by demand from outside markets. Climate change is also...
Aquaculture in profile – Kirise: “Seaweed farming got me out of poverty, but if I wasn’t motivated, I would still be poor”
“Miarakara zaho (I take care of things). I can afford to buy clothes and food now,” she says, while kneeling next to her thatched home, just steps from the sand’s damp high tide mark on Nosy Tsolike’s beach. From her...
Aquaculture in profile – Jira: “We write our songs to express our love for the lomotse”
Some people write songs about their cherie (dear) to express their love. We write our songs to express our love for the lomotse. That’s what moves us.
Aquaculture in profile – Clarisse & Ringo: “I just hope the fish return”
Two years ago, Clarisse and Ringo packed up their family of nine and moved from Bevohitse in the south of Velondriake to Ambolimoke in the north. They were following the fish.
Aquaculture in profile – Soanatoa: “If you take care of it, then you benefit.”
As he talks, Soanatao draws shapes in the bleached Nosy Tsolike sand with a piece of splintered wood he found in the same spot. He doodles, like one does on a piece of scrap paper while chatting to a friend...