Blue Ventures — Madagascar (2012)

Blue Ventures’ marine turtle research and conservation program has been operating in Madagascar since 2006, with research on an active, yet illegal, turtle fishery and a severely declining nesting population along the island’s west coast. A 2012 SWOT grant helped Blue Ventures continue to monitor a nesting population in the remote Barren Isles.

The first year of monitoring at Barren Isles revealed a small nesting population of turtles that is highly threatened by migrant fishers. Using an established team of community monitors, Blue Ventures aims to further assess the status of nesting as part of a larger program to create a locally managed marine area for the protection and sustainable management of the Barren Isles ecosystem.