Shawn Peabody
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Madagascar Locally Managed Marine Area (LMMA) Coordinator Toliara, Madagascar |
Shawn is leading efforts to develop a proven, scalable conservation model to empower coastal communities to manage their fisheries and other key natural resources. As part of this effort, he is developing training materials, participatory scientific monitoring activities and data collection and dissemination tools, all of which will facilitate the rapid and cost effective expansion of community conservation around Madagascar. Shawn also assists with planning, oversight and fundraising activities for BV field sites in Andavadoake and Belo sur Mer and will oversee BV expansion to a third site in Madagascar in the future.
Previous to his current position, Shawn was Velondriake MPA Project Coordinator from January 2009 to August 2010. Before that, he was Project Coordinator for Reef Doctor in Ifaty, Madagascar since 2007. Shawn served as a US Peace Corps Volunteer from 2005 - 2007, in the remote coastal village of Antsanitia near Mahajunga, Madagascar. As a Peace Corps Volunteer, he worked on agriculture and public health.
"I see BV as a tech company, developing and diffusing community conservation ‘innovations’. And BV’s portfolio takes innovation to the extreme - from temporary fishery closures, to sea cucumber aquaculture, to integrated reproductive health projects, to the application of customary law to marine resource management – across all our projects we’re breaking new ground time and again. As a small NGO we aim to maximise our impact through the development of new ideas and approaches that work and then through the diffusion of these to our publications and our partners."
Shawn led development of Velondriake Management plan, the first truly participatory management plan in Madagascar, and oversaw rapid expansion of the BV Conservation team in Andavadoake from 4 to 12 staff in 18 months. Together with Lalao, Shawn developed, tested, and oversaw implementation of first community-based marine resource monitoring program in Madagascar.
He also oversaw the transformation of socio-economic research programme in Velondriake to allow for rapid-response feedback gathering on MPA activities in order to improve adaptive management efforts. As supervisor for the Vezo Aho social marketing campaign against destructive fishing practices, he contributing daily technical assistance, oversight and planning to the campaign.
Publications at Blue Ventures: Peabody, Shawn, Benbow, Sophie (2010) Velondriake Management Plan: A 5 year management plan for the Velondriake Community-Management Marine Protected Area. Blue Ventures Conservation.
Click here to contact Shawn.
