We’re placing communities at the centre of solutions to sustain fisheries, manage ecosystems and redefine how the world protects the ocean.
Across the world’s tropical coasts, communities that depend on the ocean for food and income are facing a perfect storm: climate breakdown, ecological collapse, and intensifying pressure from industrial fleets.
Yet the solution lies in plain sight. Coastal communities are not passive witnesses to this crisis – they hold the key to its solution.
225 million people live in the nearly 85,000 communities that line the coasts of low-income tropical countries. Their lives and cultural identity are inherently connected to the sea.
These communities steward vast seascapes that collectively span tens of thousands of square kilometres. In countries where Blue Ventures works, over a third of global mangroves and coral reefs lie within the reach and influence of these communities.
Where communities have the rights, resources, and recognition to lead, they can protect ocean life, restore ecosystems, and build lasting resilience.
If these locally led approaches are scaled across tropical coastlines, the ecological and human impact could be transformative—for people, for nature, and for the future of the ocean.
For decades, marine conservation and fisheries management have prioritised top-down, technocratic approaches, too often failing to recognise the agency, knowledge and potential of communities themselves.
Small-scale fisheries also remain largely invisible to governments and donors alike, and the communities that depend on them are among the most politically and economically marginalised.
We believe that conservation led by communities, for communities, is the only viable pathway to protecting our coastal seas at scale, ensuring that fundamental rights are respected and equity isn’t undermined in the rush to conserve ocean life.
Our vision is of empowered coastal communities who are not just participating in conservation but leading it—managing their marine ecosystems and local fisheries to protect their livelihoods, culture and biodiversity for generations to come.
We’re working for a future where fishers and oceans thrive. A future where Locally Managed Marine Areas (LMMAs) are embedded in law, community-owned data is used to drive local decision-making, and a global movement of fishers, community leaders, and partner organisations lead a new model of stewardship and sustainability.
people reached by our work
countries served
Reflections on strengthening community climate adaptation in the coral triangle. Our collaboration with the Kiwa Initiative has borne fruit in Timor-Leste, with the establishment of
In a win for small-scale fishers, fishworkers and their communities, Honorable Emilia Arthur, Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, shared Ghana’s commitment at UNOC3 in Nice,
No ocean justice without coastal communities Coastal communities around the world are sounding the alarm – their territorial waters are under threat, and their voices
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