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,...
A visit to Belize
By Richard Nimmo, BV Managing Director. I have just returned from a whistle-stop tour of Belize in which I visited all of Blue Ventures’ project partners and spent time in our host village of Sartegna and at our Expedition site...
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...
BV’s Fran joins the Fishfight
By Frances Humber, Research Coordinator. The public has been hooked on cod, salmon and tuna for too long and it was time for Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and his ‘Fish Fight’ to highlight the enormous levels of ‘discard’ or waste in EU...
A hard week at the office
Notes from the field, from Blue Ventures expedition manager, Sarah Adams. Bacalar Chico Dive Camp, MesoAmerican Barrier Reef, Belize, 18° 07′ 53.32″ N, 87° 50′ 21.24″ W. One of highlights of this expedition so far happened on consecutive days during...
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...
Kwetu, Community Aquaculture in Mombasa, Kenya
By Shawn Peabody, Madagascar Locally Managed Marine Area (LMMA) Coordinator. I travelled to Mombasa, Kenya last week to attend a workshop developing a proposal to investigate the role that marine ecosystem services play in poverty alleviation around the Indian Ocean. ...
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...
Heading South
By Sean Clement, Blue Ventures Field Scientist. One of the most encouraging aspects of the success of Blue Ventures’ work in the Velondriake marine protected area (http://www.livewiththesea.org/) has been the extent to which many of Velondriake’s approaches to conservation have...
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...