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Small-scale fishers around Madagascar have announced a new Malagasy language definition of a key piece of terminology used to discuss marine protection around the world.  The new term – which has been formally recognised by the Malagasy Academy, the public institution responsible for the country’s linguistics – has been announced by the MIHARI Network which ...

MIHARI, the network of Madagascar's locally managed marine areas (LMMAs), has announced it is undertaking the final steps in formally establishing its legal independence. This is a crucial step towards autonomy, allowing the network to further it’s representative power as the voice of coastal communities nationally.   The network’s process to establish its new status is ...

Blue Ventures has joined an alliance of businesses and organisations to throw its support behind ambitious new legislation to respond to the climate and ecological emergency. The Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill (CEE Bill) has been developed by leading environmental scientists and policy experts and aims to fill the gaps in existing legislation to meet ...

Last week’s Toko Telo interactive online discussion facilitated by Blue Ventures welcomed experts from across the coastal tropics to discuss how experiences from COVID-19 can help networks and organisations support fishing communities. Prisca Ratsimbazafy of the MIHARI Network in Madagascar, Teri Tuxson of the LMMA Network in Fiji, and Jane Muteti and Yvonne Muyia of ...

Kokoly, the unique and impactful short film created by Blue Ventures supported by the Sundance Institute and the Skoll Foundation, has won Best Short Film and Best in Category (Short) - Biographies at Naturetrack Film Festival 2020. This year’s festival took place virtually and featured a diverse selection of both short and feature-length films, showcasing ...

Learn about the impacts COVID-19 has had on small-scale fishing communities across the coastal tropics, and discover how these communities are showing resilience in the face of the evolving crisis. Coastal communities are beset by a range of complex challenges, including being disproportionately impacted by climate breakdown. The compounding impacts of the COVID-19 crisis have ...

The last decade has seen a groundswell of community engagement in marine conservation across the Indian Ocean, yet few studies have documented the factors that have enabled effective conservation within these local initiatives. New research published this week draws together lessons from Madagascar’s first locally managed marine area (LMMA), generating valuable insights that can be ...

Despite their role in the processing and selling of fish, as well as their significant contribution to fishing itself, women are rarely involved in decision making around fisheries management. In order to realise the potential of small-scale fisheries and manage them more sustainably, it is crucial to recognise women's role, and subsequently carve out and ...

Timor-Leste’s national marine tourism association is launching a new national programme based on a global standard for whale-watching tour operators, providing enhanced protection for cetaceans in the nation’s biodiverse waters. The new voluntary certification by the Assosiasaun Turizmu Maritima Timor-Leste (ATM-TL) will help to ensure tour operators adopt world-class whale-watching standards to protect the significant ...

Too Big to Ignore's e-book, Small-Scale Fisheries in Africa: A Regional Portrait, uses case studies to explore the landscape of Africa's small-scale fisheries and presents the current challenges they are facing. From Egypt to South Africa, the regional case studies illustrate the diversity of Africa’s small-scale fisheries and how they differ between sub regions of ...