Category: Locations
Exploring Dili – diak ka lae?
Good or not? As our team in Timor-Leste gets ready to welcome our first volunteers, Sean reflects on his first few weeks in his new home town. Good, definitely good.
Celebrating our staff on International Women’s Day
We ask 5 of our staff in Madagascar about the best bits of working in conservation, what excites and challenges them, and what their hopes and fears for the future are.
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.
Life as a BV volunteer in Belize
Michael volunteered with Blue Ventures in Belize in November 2015. Find out about his experience from hitting the books to hitting the water.
Welcome to Timor-Leste!
I’m in Timor-Leste to collect images and video of our new base and to help get Greg up to speed with all things Blue Ventures. He’s only been in his new role for 2 weeks and is already up to...
How many lionfish? Special training to count the cryptic invader
Since its accidental introduction to the Atlantic in the 1980s, the Indo-Pacific lionfish (Pterois volitans) has become one of the greatest threats to the resilience of Caribbean reef systems.
Celebrating the mission that unites us
After three exciting days we hit the road with a shared feeling that binds us all to our vision: to rebuild tropical fisheries with the coastal communities that depend on them.
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...
From the classroom to the field: Malagasy marine science students join Blue Ventures’ Expeditions
In the early hours of a crisp morning in Toliara, two Malagasy marine science students, Andry Razakandrainy Andriamanjato and Max Lahitsiresy Gasimandova, eagerly wait to hop into a car full of international volunteers destined for their new home in Andavadoaka...
Aquaculture in profile – Marie-Louise: “We are preparing for our future”
The sun is at high noon just a few days after winter solstice in Lamboara. Marie-Louise and five of her fellow seaweed farmers sit in ankle-deep water tending to cords of seaweed. The women laugh, sing and dance while working,...
Signed, sealed, delivered, I’m your protected area
Creating a new protected area takes time. The members of the Velondriake locally managed marine area (LMMA) management association in southwest Madagascar have been patiently biding theirs for a number of long years. The seven-year journey towards formal government recognition...