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“MIHARI enables communities to speak with one voice” Bienvenu Tsivozahy on the past, present and future of Madagascar’s LMMA network

This post is also available in French

In 2006, a handful of communities in southwest Madagascar joined forces to create the country’s first locally managed marine area (LMMA), a community-based solution to declining marine biodiversity. One LMMA quickly became several, and in 2012, LMMA communities formed a network to share experiences and knowledge of local management and to advocate for their rights to manage coastal resources. They called the network MIHARI, an acronym for MItantana Harena and Ranomasina avy eny Ifotony, which means ‘local marine resource management’ in Malagasy.

Today, MIHARI represents communities that manage almost 300 LMMAs and 25 supporting organisations. The network has become a fully independent local entity, and Blue Ventures, which incubated MIHARI and provided long-term support, has transitioned to become one of its technical and financial partners.

To celebrate MIHARI’s new decade of independence, we recently sat down with its newly appointed Executive Secretary, Bienvenu Tsivozahy. Bienvenu comes from a family of traditional fishers in southwest Madagascar, speaks most of the country’s dialects, and specialises in organisational development and advocacy.

Blue Ventures: Can you tell us about your history with MIHARI?

Bienvenu TSIVOZAHY: I grew up in a family of small-scale fishers in Saint-Augustin in southwest Madagascar, on the banks of the Mozambique Channel and the large river Onilaye that runs along the Tropic of Capricorn. Our whole life was connected to the sea and the river. From the time I was in school until I graduated, my parents expected me to buy my school supplies with the money I earned from fishing. My heart has been in fishing ever since.

Something incredibly powerful happened in 2017 when representatives of all LMMA communities across the country came together at the MIHARI national forum and decided to focus on getting three key things from the government. First, official recognition of the customary law (dina) they use to manage their coastal resources in a sustainable manner. Secondly, government enforcement of fishing gear regulations to better manage fisheries. And lastly, an exclusive near-shore fishing zone for small-scale fishers. This was a milestone moment that started our fight.

At that time, I was the executive director of Transparency International – Initiative Madagascar, overseeing about 30 advocacy issues. I  was quick to offer the MIHARI team  help to develop their advocacy strategy. I had all the experience and passion required! I stayed in touch with several LMMA presidents afterwards.

BV: What do you find most impressive about what MIHARI has achieved so far?

BT: LMMA communities live far apart and speak different dialects. MIHARI has enabled them to speak with one voice. The network has made peer-to-peer learning exchanges possible, and for LMMA communities to network with local associations, platforms, social enterprises and NGOs working on sustainable management of marine resources in Madagascar. All of this allowed the network to take off and participate in the national dialogue.

Two years ago, MIHARI’s president publicly denounced the appearance of large industrial fishing vessels far into near-shore areas where traditional small-scale fishing happens, and the lack of transparency in the deployment of fishing fleets in the Mozambique Channel. Many people in my village had told me about these intrusions. But until that point, small-scale fishers had not dared to complain too openly. This time, the press picked up the story, and the government took MIHARI’s denunciation seriously. For the first time, the network really weighed into the public debate. People started to talk more about the other requests from LMMA communities, and also about the Fisheries Transparency Initiative for Madagascar, that the country subsequently joined in 2021.

BV: What drives MIHARI’s work?

BT: The livelihood of Malagasy coastal communities is at stake. There are fewer and fewer fish. For small-scale fishers, there is no doubt that this decline is linked to the destructive practices of illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing by industrial fishing vessels, and also by climate migrants. The drought is causing farmers to move to the coast and start fishing, but their lack of experience means they might destroy marine habitats and put too much pressure on fish populations. 

I know many traditional fishers who are forced to go fishing far afield for two or three months to places where there are more fish, but they know less about the fishing grounds so are more likely to fish less sustainably. Others are tempted to turn to illegal exploitation of mangrove trees for charcoal and wood energy to provide for their families. LMMA communities know about these increased pressures on ecosystems, even in protected areas.

BV: Following extensive consultation with its members and field visits to even the most remote coastal areas, MIHARI has developed its 2026 strategy and vision: to defend the rights of LMMA communities, to strengthen solidarity among members, to promote sustainable economic activities, to conserve and restore marine ecosystems and to build capacity.

BT: I am proud that MIHARI has developed this strategic plan, which was conceived in a concerted and collective manner. Its objectives are both ambitious and achievable. It is also a great tool, like a GPS that will guide our every action.

We have much work to do: Obtain legal recognition of LMMAs, which is essential to legitimise and consolidate community-led sustainable management of marine resources. Encourage the scaling up of community investment and accessible economic activities that do not rely on the extraction of marine and coastal resources. Improve the health of the ecosystems managed by LMMA communities, restoring marine biodiversity and degraded areas. Better connect all LMMA data and develop an open database that will facilitate the adaptive management of LMMAs and the defence of their rights.

These are great challenges, but I have great hopes. Madagascar’s move to join the Fisheries Transparency Initiative has been matched by tangible actions at the state level and much better consultation with civil society members. The MIHARI network should soon cover all coastal regions of the country and gain strength to advocate for LMMA communities’ rights and law enforcement. Also, our Fisherwomen Leadership Programme has given the inclusion of women in LMMA management the necessary momentum.

I have been working with civil society organisations for years to bring much-needed change to combat injustice. I am conscious of the threats facing my family’s livelihoods and all Malagasy small-scale fishers. Today, I could not be happier and more honoured to serve the LMMA community network.

 

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Thailand

Thailand’s small-scale fisheries are the cornerstone of social, economic and nutritional health for the communities living along the majority of the country’s nearly 3,000 kilometre coastline.
In the southernmost Trang province we are supporting communities reliant on nearshore fisheries − in particular for crab, shrimp and squid − in partnership with the Save Andaman Network (SAN).

We’re providing training and tools to aid organisational development, community led fisheries monitoring and management, and building community-owned social enterprises that fund and sustain local conservation efforts.

Timor-Leste

Since 2016, our work in Timor-Leste has evolved into a dynamic movement supporting community led marine management and coastal livelihood diversification in Asia’s newest country. From our origins on Atauro Island, considered to harbour amongst the highest levels of marine biodiversity on earth, we’re now working with numerous communities on the island and the mainland to ensure that local communities have access to diverse sustainable livelihood options to relieve fishing pressure on critical coral reefs and seagrass ecosystems.

We’re engaging communities in monitoring the relatively unexplored marine biodiversity of Timor-Leste, and managing local marine resources through customary local laws known as Tara Bandu. Alongside our community conservation efforts, we have pioneered Timor-Leste’s first homestay association, which now provides a consistent income from visiting ecotourists and sparked interest in replication by a mainland community. Using homestays as a hub, communities are well placed to host learning exchanges, training events, and act as an outreach platform to engage and inspire communities in fisheries management and livelihood diversification. Exchanges have led to communities of best practice and strengthened associations, and the opportunity to establish a formal network throughout the country.

Our team in Timor-Leste’s capital Dili works closely with government, civil society organisations and NGO partners.

Tanzania

Like its neighbours within the Northern Mozambique Channel marine biodiversity hotspot, Tanzania harbours some of the most diverse marine ecosystems in the Indian Ocean.  These habitats are facing unprecedented challenges from overfishing and climate change.

Our Tanzanian team has worked with communities and local organisations to support locally-led marine conservation since 2016.  Our work has expanded from Zanzibar to mainland regions of Tanga, Lindi and Kilwa where our technicians work with local partners to help communities strengthen co-management systems, working through beach management units (BMUs), Shehia Fishing Committees (SFCs) marine parks and Collaborative Fisheries Management Areas (CFMAs).

Our partners Mwambao Coastal Community Network, marinecultures.org and Sea Sense have spearheaded a remarkable acceleration in the uptake of community-based fisheries management and conservation in recent years, notably through the use of short term fisheries closures to catalyse broader community conservation.

Somalia

With one of Africa’s longest coastlines, Somalia’s diverse marine environment supports enormously productive coastal and offshore fisheries.  Decades of conflict have undermined the country’s capacity for fisheries management, with many foreign industrial vessels fishing with impunity, and little regard for the critical importance of Somalia’s coastal fisheries for local livelihoods and food security. 

A period of relative political and social stability unprecedented in recent decades is now presenting new opportunities to address past challenges, and to realise the considerable opportunities that well-managed coastal fisheries and conservation can offer Somalia. We are forging partnerships with community organisations in Somalia to build their capacity and skills to help coastal communities manage their fisheries for food security, livelihoods and conservation.

Philippines

The Philippines forms part of the ‘coral triangle’ epicentre of global marine biodiversity, with unparalleled diversity of marine species. Over half of the country’s 107 million people (55.6%) live in rural areas, and approximately three quarters depend on agriculture or fisheries as their primary source of livelihoods.

With our local partner People and the Sea, we are working in the eastern Visayas to support coastal communities to establish locally led marine conservation and fisheries management efforts underpinned by participatory data systems that put evidence in the hands of communities.

Papua New Guinea

The largest country in the Western Pacific Region, Papua New Guinea‘s coral reefs and mangroves are among the most diverse and extensive in the world. Papua New Guinea has a long history of traditional approaches for fisheries management, and huge unmet marine conservation needs.

We have been supporting our local partner Eco Custodian Advocates since 2019 in Milne Bay, notable for its vast mangrove forests and coral reefs. We are now expanding this support to other local organisations in Papua New Guinea, focused on supporting the establishment of customary LMMAs that provide locally relevant approaches to community led fishery management built upon local cultural traditions.

Indonesia

Indonesia comprises almost 17,500 islands stretching across three time zones. This archipelagic nation has the longest coastline − and the largest coastal fisheries resource − of any country on Earth. Ninety five percent of Indonesia’s seafood production comes from small-scale fisheries, which are underpinned by the most biodiverse marine ecosystem on Earth, known as the Coral Triangle.

In Indonesia, Blue Ventures’ partner Yayasan Pesisir Lestari, based in Bali, works with locally-based organisations Forkani, Yayasan LINI, Yapeka, Yayasan Planet Indonesia, Foneb, Komanangi, JARI, Yayasan Tananua Flores, Baileo, AKAR, Japesda, Yayasan Mitra Insani and Yayasan Hutan Biru.

These partners support community-based approaches to coral reef and mangrove conservation at 22 sites across seven provinces. Interventions are customised to each context − the local fisheries, community stakeholders, seafood supply chains, legal frameworks and customary traditions governing fisheries management and conservation.

Since 2019 we have brought these partners together within a peer learning network of Indonesian organisations specialised in supporting community-based marine conservation. The network is based around the shared values of the organisations, including a commitment to promote the rights of traditional fishing communities in conservation. Seventeen of the sites represented in this group are enacting local marine management through customary management regimes and traditions. This group, largely comprising sites in Eastern Indonesia, provides an important opportunity to share learning in traditional marine and fisheries management practices.

In West Kalimantan and East Sumatra we’re supporting mangrove-dependent coastal communities to integrate mangrove fishery and forestry management, alongside activities to develop alternative livelihoods or upgrade existing livelihoods. In North Sulawesi we’re supporting the development of community-owned ecotourism businesses, such as homestays, that diversify local livelihoods and place further value on protected and healthy marine ecosystems. Across our work in Indonesia, where partner communities have an unmet need for healthcare, we’re supporting the integration of health improvement activities into our interventions.

Find out more

India

We continue to work in India with our long term partner the Dakshin Foundation. We are collaborating in three distinct locations; the archipelago of Lakshadweep, coastal regions of Odisha and the Andaman Islands.

Overfishing has led to a reduction in fish catches, challenging the future of many traditional fishing communities.

Our partnership is working to build the capacity of communities to manage coastal fisheries,  and improve the health of fishing communities, for the long-term wellbeing of both the communities and their fishing grounds.

Kenya

Kenya’s coast supports an extraordinary diversity of tropical marine and coastal habitats.  These  waters are threatened by a proliferation of destructive fishing practices and over-harvesting within the artisanal and commercial fishing sectors.

Our approach in Kenya focuses on strengthening Beach Management Units (BMUs) to improve fisheries management.  Since 2016 our Mombasa-based technical team has provided support, mentoring and assistance to local partners including Pate Marine Community Conservancy (PMCC), Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT) and Coastal and Marine Resource Development (COMRED).

These partnerships have seen notable achievements in community led fisheries management and conservation, including training and mentoring BMU leaders in eighteen communities in Kwale and Lamu Counties.

Comoros

The Comoros islands are located in the northern Mozambique Channel, a region home to the world’s second highest marine biodiversity after the Coral Triangle. This globally important biodiversity underpins coastal livelihoods and food security, but is at risk from climate change and overexploitation of inshore fisheries.

We have maintained a permanent presence supporting locally led marine conservation and fisheries management in Comoros since 2015, providing support to local partners, governmental institutions and communities.

On Anjouan, the second largest and most densely populated island in the Comoros archipelago, we work closely with national NGO Dahari. Our partnership has developed a replicable blueprint for community-based marine management, which has seen the creation of the country’s first locally managed marine areas − including temporary and permanent marine closures − designed to safeguard the coral reef ecosystems underpinning the archipelago’s coastal economy.

This approach, which is expanding rapidly across the Comoros, is also demonstrating the importance of inclusive conservation in empowering women − through local women’s fisheries associations − to play a leading role in fisheries monitoring and decision making.

On neighbouring island of Moheli and the french island of Mayotte, we’re supporting the Moheli National Park and the Mayotte Marine Natural Park with efforts to strengthen community engagement in fisheries management and conservation.

Belize

Belize’s marine environment encompasses some of the most important marine ecosystems in the Caribbean Sea, including vast coral reefs, mangrove forests and seagrass ecosystems. We have maintained a permanent presence in Belize since 2010, supporting diverse fisheries and conservation efforts from our base in Sarteneja, Belize’s largest fishing community.  

We work in close partnership with the Belize Fisheries Department, MPA managers, fishing cooperatives and fishers’ associations, and are actively involved in promoting the establishment of a national scale domestic fishery for invasive lionfish.  We’ve worked with coastal stakeholders to develop a national strategy for lionfish management, including launching the National Lionfish Working Group.  

We’ve led a ten year MPA monitoring and evaluation programme in Bacalar Chico Marine Reserve, and provide training in coral reef monitoring methods to six MPA authorities in Belize, including helping establish management targets for Turneffe Atoll Marine Reserve, Belize’s largest MPA. 

Our team supports community-based fisheries and conservation groups across the country to ensure local interests are mainstreamed in the design and implementation of marine conservation and fisheries management, improving the effectiveness of co-management of conservation areas.

Mozambique

Our Mozambican team has worked with communities to develop locally led approaches to fisheries management and marine conservation since 2015.

Our approach is focused on supporting and strengthening local organisations and Community Fisheries Councils (CCPs) to better understand their local fisheries, make informed management decisions to rebuild fisheries, and assess the impact of management actions.  This work is developed in close collaboration with our partners Oikos- Cooperação e Desenvolvimento in Nampula province and African Parks in Inhambane province.

Ongoing security challenges have devastated many coastal communities and emerging marine conservation efforts in several areas of Cabo Delgado, where our work is regrettably now on hold.

As in Madagascar, given extremely high levels of coastal poverty and a pervasive lack of access to basic services, alongside our work in conservation we facilitate partnerships with specialist health providers, through an integrated health-environment approach.

Madagascar

Blue Ventures’ journey began in Madagascar in 2003, and we’ve been supporting communities in marine conservation across the country ever since. We have five regional field programmes along Madagascar’s west coast, as well as regional offices in the towns of Toliara, Morondava and Ambanja.  Our national headquarters is located in the capital Antananarivo.

Across all these sites we support communities with the establishment of locally managed marine areas (LMMAs), and work with government partners to secure national recognition for community conservation initiatives.  First developed in Madagascar by Blue Ventures in 2006, the LMMA concept has since been replicated by communities at hundreds of sites over thousands of kilometres of coastline, now covering almost one fifth of Madagascar’s inshore seabed.  Our research in Madagascar has demonstrated globally important evidence of the benefits of LMMAs to fisheries and conservation.

Our work focuses on strengthening community institutions in marine management and governance, and pioneering new approaches to catalyse community engagement in ocean conservation.  These innovations have included establishing the world’s first community-based sea cucumber farms and the country’s first mangrove blue carbon project.

At the national level, we have incubated the MIHARI network, now an independent civil society platform that brings together 219 LMMA sites across the country and 25 supporting conservation partner organisations.  Our policy team is also actively involved in advocating for more robust legislation to safeguard the rights and interests of fishing communities, and to remove destructive industrial fishing from coastal waters.

Given the lack of basic services in remote coastal regions in Madagascar, we also help communities access basic healthcare through training and supporting women to serve as community health workers. We do not replace government health systems, but work to strengthen existing structures in close collaboration with government health actors and specialist NGOs.  We also incubate Madagascar’s national health-environment network, which brings together 40 partner organisations to address the health needs of communities living in areas of conservation importance across the country.