About us

Blue Ventures is an award-winning social enterprise that works with local communities to conserve threatened marine and coastal environments, both protecting biodiversity and alleviating poverty. Our business models include ecotourism, sustainable fisheries management, aquaculture and blue carbon.

The foundation of our work is the creation of Locally Managed Marine Areas (LMMAs) and we have worked with local communities to pioneer some of the largest and most successful LMMAs of the Western Indian Ocean. We have won awards for our entrepreneurial solutions for sustainable development, including the SEED Award, the 2006 Equator Prize and the 2011 Buckminster Fuller Prize.

We provide scholarships that ensure hundreds of children are able to attend school. We have also provided marine science training to over fifty Malagasy science graduates.

Through our marine expeditions, volunteers from around the world join us on career breaks, student gap years and internships, working closely with our field research teams, in partnership with local communities. We have a commitment to responsible travel on all of our expeditions.

What do we believe?

We believe that with the right knowledge, developing coastal communities can live in harmony with their marine environments.

What is our purpose?

To give coastal communities the knowledge and skills they need to live sustainably.

How do we do it?

We have a team of dedicated researchers and volunteers who study all aspects of the marine ecosystem - from fish species and coral all the way through to local fishing techniques and ways of life. The results from our work help us to develop the local populations we work with in a sustainable way and propose new ideas to benefit coastal communities everywhere.

With our dynamic synergy of motivated volunteers and conservation expeditions, we can help local, coastal communities live more sustainably.

For more information on volunteer opportunities with Blue Ventures please see our expeditions section.

For information about current research activities, please see our latest research updates.

Blue Ventures Expeditions Limited registered in Scotland, company no. SC233112

Blue Ventures Conservation is a registered UK charity, no. 1098893

Registered address: Lindsays WS, Caledonian Exchange, 19A Canning Street, Edinburgh EH3 8HE