Women in Comoros smoke fish to boost income and community development
Working with fisherwomen in Comoros is fulfilling because you see them progressing and creating more value from fisheries. The Maecha Bora Association, which includes fisherwomen from three villages on the southwest coast of Anjouan who glean for octopus, shells and...
Safety at sea: Community training inspires change in Timor-Leste
Antonio really showed me the importance of providing fishers with the skills to keep themselves and other community members safe, and how this has inspired wider engagement and conservation action in his community.
Kenyan communities trial ‘blue loans’ tied to marine conservation
Last year, communities in Kenya’s Kwale County approached our partner COMRED to ask how they could increase local participation in conservation efforts to manage coastal fisheries. Kwale’s coast stretches approximately 250km and is divided into 20 local fisheries management associations....
Improving the health status of coastal communities through health-environment partnership forums
Soon after joining Yayasan Pesisir Lestari (YPL) in 2021, I had the opportunity to meet our partners integrating health interventions into their conservation work at a forum. I was both excited and nervous to host such a forum with YPL...
Nantenaina: Advocating for collaboration, my journey, and hope from COP26 to COP27
Madagascar is my home, and we have just lived through Cyclone Batsirai. More cyclones came after, and there are more to come. We are all affected by climate change, but coastal communities and exposed to diseases. Capping global temperature increase...
Promoting the use of customary laws to improve community fisheries in Indonesia
This is the final piece in a three-part series on the use of customary laws known locally as sasi that seek to harness a more sustainable relationship between man and nature. Sasi is a set of customary laws currently used...
Participatory mud crab monitoring paves way to sustainable mangrove management
The livelihoods of many Indonesian coastal communities, like the Perigi Raja and Sapat communities of Indragiri Hilir Regency of Riau Province, depend on mud crab fisheries to meet their daily needs. The regency has extensive mangrove forests covering up to...
Somali to Kenya: A learning exchange to share knowledge and forge friendships
As we worked to finalise planning for this learning visit, we were unsure how it would turn out. After a year without guests, when COVID-19 travel restrictions eased late last year, we were excited about hosting representatives of Adeso, Secure...
Community conservation offers hope for sustainable fisheries on the Kenyan coast
The situation It used to be easy for fishing communities on the Kenyan coast to know when the seasons would change, the winds would peak, and the sea would be safe to access because the weather forecasts were more stable....
The power of data for community co-management in Tanzania
A history of invisible conflict When we started working in marine conservation in the early 2000s, we quickly realised that data is an essential tool to help us understand the state of our fisheries and marine ecosystems. We focused mainly...
Darawa fishers: Moving away from destructive fishing to become leaders in coastal resource management
In the early 2000s, some fishers from Darawa island, located southwest of the Kaledupa sub-district of Wakatobi Regency in Indonesia, caught fish by destructive methods. The previously uninhabited island lacked plantations, and the fishers who moved there from the nearby...
Is HIV a hidden epidemic in Madagascar?
Preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV through a Health-Environment Partnerships approach I recently joined Blue Ventures as a Technical Advisor on Health-Environment matters, and I was amazed by the strides the team had made. For nearly two decades, Blue Ventures has...
Sustainable living from the sea through community-led seaweed farming.
In Madagascar, members of the community of Belo-sur-Mer – primarily women – have taken up the challenge of village aquaculture. I had no future before seaweed farming. My sons had left the village, and I could not support myself because...
Prioritizing inclusivity and community engagement in conservation and fisheries management in Belize!
Dangriga Town – known as the ‘culture capital’ of Belize – is a vibrant coastal community nestled amongst the hills and valleys of southern Belize. Tales of its rich heritage can be seen, heard, and felt throughout the town’s streets...
An exchange visit to Pate Island, Lamu Archipelago – inspiring change in community-led fisheries and conservation
Munje to Pate – the start of learning There was hope and excitement as nine community members, seven men, and two ladies from Munje in southeast Kenya, boarded a shuttle bus for a nine-hour journey to Lamu. Our mission was...