Blue Forests

In Ambanja, northwest Madagascar, communities are protecting their mangrove forests by producing an alternative and sustainable source of charcoal – brown salwood trees (known as Acacia mangium). In the area, mangroves are illegally and unsustainably cut to produce charcoal, mainly used for cooking. Hanjara Rabemanantsoa, Blue Ventures’ mangroves coordinator in Tsimipaika Bay, shares the journey ...

Blue Ventures have published a new methodology that provides an accessible approach to map and monitor mangroves using satellite imagery and cloud computing. The ground-breaking new methodology has been published in the open access journal Remote Sensing, sharing the blueprint for a new approach to enable conservationists to assess mangroves anywhere on earth.     Mangroves ...

The vital importance of coastal wetland conservation and restoration has been recognised with the validation of the first Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) methodology for blue carbon conservation. The methodology will provide a new framework to help conservationists deploy climate finance to blue carbon conservation − a potent natural solution in the fight against climate breakdown. ...

In an article for WIOMSA’s most recent issue of their magazine, People & the Environment, Lalao Aigrette, Blue Ventures’ National Blue Forests Programme Lead in Madagascar, shares her experiences of working with coastal communities on the west coast of Madagascar as part of Blue Ventures’ Blue Forests programme. Through the work communities take a leading ...

Sharing learning on community engagement in conservation in Tsimipaika Bay Read the full post: Our ongoing journey: exploring the challenges and lessons learned about community engagement in conservation

Groundbreaking new research recently published in Ecosystems helps to shed light on the fate of the carbon stored in mangrove soils following deforestation, emphasising the importance of conservation in the face of the climate emergency.  In the context of the climate emergency, mangroves are critical ecosystems to coastal communities across the tropics. Often the only ...

Saturday 21st March marked International Day of Forests 2020, established by the United Nations (UN). As an organisation whose work centres around the natural environment, and with our pioneering Blue Forests programme, we wanted to join in the celebration. We created a short video to showcase the invaluable role that mangrove forests play, as a ...

Blue Ventures' founder Alasdair Harris has written a blog for One Earth about Blue Ventures' work protecting mangroves. In this blog he describes the importance of mangroves to people and the planet, the drivers and effects of mangrove loss, and our scaleable natural climate solution that delivers meaningful benefits to coastal communities. Mangrove forests sustain ...

Blue Ventures' mangrove technical lead, Leah Glass, was interviewed by the Skoll Foundation about the launch of the world's largest mangrove carbon conservation project – Tahiry Honko. In a remote corner of southwest Madagascar last month, local communities launched the world’s largest mangrove carbon conservation project, sequestering a huge amount of carbon and securing an ...

The Tahiry Honko project is helping to tackle climate breakdown and build community resilience by restoring and protecting mangrove forests. A celebration at the heart of a protected mangrove forest in Madagascar this week marked the formal inauguration of the world’s largest mangrove carbon conservation project. The forest, situated in the Bay of Assassins in ...