Feeling at home in Belize
By Pam Viele, BV volunteer, Belize The Blue Ventures homestay in the quaint fishing village of Sarteneja was the perfect way to experience the culture of this lovely spot beyond the perspective of a tourist. Like most of the volunteers,...
Update from Velondriake following tropical cyclone Haruna
On Friday 22nd February 2013, tropical cyclone Haruna made landfall over the southwest coast of Madagascar as a powerful category 2 storm, with heavy rain and wind speeds of around 150km/h. The village of Andavadoaka and the communities in the...
School on a Saturday?
by Christine Foulkes, BV volunteer, Madagascar The walk to school was interesting. We negotiated the daily route leading down to the boats in the bay. Then we turned into the narrow passage way at the edge of the village, through...
A much needed repose
By Brian Jones, Conservation Coordinator, Madagascar Living in paradise ain’t always easy. Sometimes you just need to… get away. Nowhere better to do that than in my hometown in eastern Pennsylvania in the middle of winter! Huh? Contradictory as that...
Island life: monitoring nesting turtles in the Barren Isles
by Olivier Raynaud, Maintirano & Barren Isles Project Coordinator, Madagascar Among the variety of natural riches that can be found in the Barren Isles’ diverse ecosystems are five of the world’s seven marine turtle species; the leatherback, loggerhead , olive ridley,...
Saving Mozambique’s dugongs
by Dr Garth Cripps, Senior Conservation Scientist & Forest Carbon Finance Specialist, Madagascar Walking down the lively streets of Vilanculos and Inhassoro in Mozambique it is difficult to believe that in the early 90’s these were dead towns. The streets, shops and...
Addressing population dynamics in the global context
by Dr Vik Mohan, Director of Sexual and Reproductive Health Programme, UK Late last year, I flew out to a cold and snowy Copenhagen to attend a meeting of the Population and Sustainable Development Alliance (PSDA). The PSDA (formerly the...
The most beautiful adventure: My first trip beyond Madagascar
by Rado Lebely, Terrestrial & Fisheries Scientist and EDGE Fellowship winner, Madagascar Who would think that I’ve never been outside of Madagascar, never travelled by plane and never seen an international airport? This reality changed when I was accepted to join...
Reflections from a Belizean fishing village
by Daniel le Roux, BV Volunteer, Belize It seems to me that people usually start these sorts of things with a cliché: “Sarteneja was everything I imagined it would be”, or “I instantly felt at home in Sarteneja”. I hate...
The sweet taste of success in Saturday School
by Marzia Garin, former Education and Youth Coordinator, Madagascar In mid-November, the children at Saturday School had a very special guest: the Swiss NGO ADES (The Association for the Development of Solar Energy). ADES travelled down to Andavadoaka to teach...
Have you ever encountered a live sea cucumber?
by Taylor Mayol, Communications and Programme Development Officer, Madagascar I hadn’t either until just a few months ago. I knew I was in for a wild ride during my fellowship after I dove into a crystal clear turquoise bay in...
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...
Beach seining and how it damages the marine environment
Photos by Garth Cripps (© Blue Ventures 2012) Beach seine fishing is one of the most destructive fishing gears practiced in many areas of the tropical indo-Pacific. For the past five years Blue Ventures has been working closely with Rare...
Studying octopus in southwest Madagascar
By Daniel Raberinary, Community Conservation Coordinator, Madagascar My name is Daniel Raberinary, I come from Majunga, Madagascar, and studied at the Marine Biology Institute at the University of Toliara (IHSM). I finished my masters degree in 2008, which was about octopus reproduction...
We all agree that the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef is in poor health… but it could be worse!
by Jennifer Chapman, Country Coordinator, Belize All too often research efforts undertaken by organisations and individuals are not shared. Beautiful reports are produced, describing problems, threats, changes, declines, recommendations, opportunities, constraints… but no one reads them. Nothing happens. The Healthy...