Marine Conservation in Madagascar
A British marine conservation charity, Blue Ventures, is working with their host community to establish sustainable fishing and an alternative income from tourism.
By Richard Nimmo, from Blue Ventures
A British marine conservation charity, Blue Ventures, is working with their host community to establish sustainable fishing and an alternative income from tourism.
The ocean waters around Madagascar are some of the most biologically diverse in the world. 6,000 marine species are known, a fraction of the diversity yet to be discovered.Increasing tourism, growing coastal populations, global warming and expanding commercial fishing all pose major threats to Madagascar’s marine resources. These habitats are not only home to a vast array of biological diversity, they are the lifeline of coastal communities in Madagascar. Villagers rely on marine resources for food, transport and trade, and often hold ceremonies and erect shrines thanking their ancestors for the bounty provided by the ocean waters.
This is particularly true for the Vezo people who live along Madagascar’s south west coast. The Vezo are known as “the people of the sea” and are so connected to the ocean waters that they believe foreigners can “become” Vezo by learning how to sail pirogues, their traditional boats.
Blue Ventures has been working in the remote Vezo fishing village of Andavadoaka for the last three years to protect the dwindling marine resources villagers rely upon. Blue Ventures brings paying volunteers to project sites and trains them in scientific research. Volunteers dive to gather biological data on coral and other marine species and help manage conservation plans in coordination with Blue Ventures’ scientists and village leaders. Blue Ventures has worked with local communities over the years to create marine protected areas and develop sustainable fishing practices that not only promote the growth of marine species, but also result in greater catches for local fishermen.
In 2004 the people of Andavadoaka created the world’s first community-run marine protected area for octopus. The growth in octopus size and population was so successful that the national government of Madagascar launched similar protected areas across the country. But while marine reserves to protect food-stocks make sense to the community, they need an incentive to protect wider biological resources such as mangrove forest, baobab forest and reefs. So Blue Ventures has trained more than 20 villagers as eco-tour guides who will lead tourists on snorkelling and boating excursions as well as treks into local baobab forests where trees can grow to more than five metres in diameter.
At present
the few tourists who make it to Andavadoaka usually stay
in a foreign owned hotel with most of the profit earned
leaving the village. This hotel also uses diesel-powered
generators and pumps for electricity and water – a very
limited resource in this arid region.
So Blue Ventures is beginning the construction of an eco-lodge on land donated by the villagers in Andavadoaka that will be fully owned and operated by local villagers with all profits going back to the community. The lodge will run on sustainable sources, including solar and wind energy. These will also provide the broader village with clean power. To reduce the climate impact of staff and volunteers travelling to Madagascar Blue Ventures has launched a carbon offset programme focussed on the Andavadoaka area that combines poverty alleviation with the protection of the local environment.
We distribute highly efficient wood-stoves that use up to 90 percent less fuel than traditional cooking methods - decreasing the local rate of deforestation. There are also distinct health benefits as the stoves produce less smoke and reduce the incidence of respiratory infection.
Blue Ventures also plans to develop sustainable energy sources for the region, including wind and solar power, and will begin purchasing and protecting mangrove stands in order to sequester carbon dioxide.
Because our work is grounded in a partnership with the local community and we are working towards becoming a truly sustainable organisation Blue Ventures became the first European organisation to receive the SEED Award sponsored by the United Nations and the World Conservation Union in 2005.
So Blue Ventures is beginning the construction of an eco-lodge on land donated by the villagers in Andavadoaka that will be fully owned and operated by local villagers with all profits going back to the community. The lodge will run on sustainable sources, including solar and wind energy. These will also provide the broader village with clean power. To reduce the climate impact of staff and volunteers travelling to Madagascar Blue Ventures has launched a carbon offset programme focussed on the Andavadoaka area that combines poverty alleviation with the protection of the local environment.
We distribute highly efficient wood-stoves that use up to 90 percent less fuel than traditional cooking methods - decreasing the local rate of deforestation. There are also distinct health benefits as the stoves produce less smoke and reduce the incidence of respiratory infection.
Blue Ventures also plans to develop sustainable energy sources for the region, including wind and solar power, and will begin purchasing and protecting mangrove stands in order to sequester carbon dioxide.
Because our work is grounded in a partnership with the local community and we are working towards becoming a truly sustainable organisation Blue Ventures became the first European organisation to receive the SEED Award sponsored by the United Nations and the World Conservation Union in 2005.
Blue Ventures is currently looking for experts in “green architecture” to help develop plans that will ensure the lodge is constructed from local resources and in a sustainable manner as possible and if you have expertise in sustainable architecture or engineering, or know people who do, please contact Richard Nimmo at Blue Ventures at Richard@blueventures.org or on 020 8341 9819.
