Results for: community exchange
Family planning festivals sail into Belo sur Mer
By Lison Garrel, Safidy (Community Health) Programme Coordinator, Belo sur Mer, Madagascar Last month the commune of Belo sur Mer was in a party mood! And no, it wasn’t because of the rallies preceding the presidential election, it wasn’t because of...
Making an IMPAC at the International Marine Protected Areas Congress
by Olivier Raynaud, Maintirano & Barren Isles Project Coordinator, Madagascar Following Geeling, Australia in 2005 and Washington DC, USA in 2009, the third International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC3) was held in Marseilles, France in October 2013. Jointly organised by the...
PHE is alive and kicking: inspiration and endorsement from Addis Ababa
By Laura Robson and Caroline Savitzky The excitement was palpable as we gathered with almost 200 of the world’s finest Population-Health-Environment (PHE) practitioners, researchers and advocates in Addis Ababa for the International PHE Conference earlier this month! With all of...
Blue forests: progress made and looking forward
By Trevor Jones, Geospatial Analyst and Manager, Vancouver If someone had told me three years ago that I would come to work in Madagascar’s mangrove forests, I wouldn’t have believed them. Fast forward to July 2011 and I found myself commencing...
Maintirano’s moment of glory: the Journée Nationale de la Pêche et de l’Aquaculture
by Olivier Raynaud, Maintirano and Barren Isles Project Coordinator, Madagascar September 19th to 21st 2012 found our little town in quite a frenzy as it hosted the National Day for Fishing and Aquaculture (JNPA). Typically, the narrow streets of Maintirano...
Kayaks (and kava) to Korea: an insider’s perspective at the IUCN’s World Conservation Congress
by Brian Jones, Conservation Coordinator, Madagascar We’re seated on the floor in a circle at the Blue Planet Pavilion on the 3rd floor of the International Conference Centre in Jeju-Do, South Korea. Confused passers-by bump into each other and turn...
Conservation through Music: Respect the Environment / Hajao ty Tontolo Iaina
By Christi Turner, Education & Youth Outreach Coordinator Does anyone remember the cartoon movie Ferngully: the Last Rainforest? I’ll never forget watching it as a child, and starting to think about the disappearing forests on the other side of the...
NGO Honko visits Velondriake
By Kame Westerman, Velondriake MPA Project Coordinator, Andavadoaka, Madagascar. The success of Blue Ventures and the Velondriake Locally Managed Marine Area has attracted a great deal of attention from other organizations implementing community conservation activities. In late May, Velondriake members...
Young conservation leaders attend national workshop to discuss implications of climate change
Youth of today, although often under-represented in policy and decision making, are playing a critical role within global efforts to conserve biodiversity and mitigate the effects of climate change. Within Madagascar, a thriving network of young conservationists is already at...
Guitarfish a Go-Go- Bribes and barrages in Belo-sur-Mer
By Brian Jones, Community Research Coordinator, Belo-sur-mer, Madagascar. You’ve got to admire the mettle of people who, despite the cards being seemingly insurmountably stacked against them, can still stick to their guns and stand up for what they believe in....
Blue Ventures hosts guests from neighbouring Comorian islands
By Kame Westerman, Velondriake MPA Project Coordinator, Andavadoaka, Madagascar. The success of Blue Ventures and Velondriake in southwest Madagascar has garnered growing interest from other conservation organizations wanting to learn about community conservation in this context. Recently, we had two...
Meet the Nahudas
Every expedition we take our new crop of volunteers into one of the village ‘epi-bars’ to meet the nahudas – the village elders. We introduce ourselves to them and then shake our tushes on the dancefloor to some Malagasy music...