Alternative Livelihoods

Along with traditional conservation planning, Blue Ventures works with villages to develop sustainable economic alternatives to overexploitation of natural resources.

Blue Ventures believes that economic development can, and must, go hand in hand with environmental conservation. Villages along Madagascar’s southwest coast are almost wholly dependent upon local marine systems for survival. But destructive fishing practices, rapidly growing populations and the expansion of commercial fishing companies are threatening these vital resources.

Blue Ventures is partnering with local communities in the Andavadoaka region, located along the southwest coast of Madagascar, to develop sustainable economies that will provide alternatives to destructive fishing practices and reduce dependency on threatened coastal habitats.

Sea Cucumber Farming

Sea cucumbers are a highly valuable commodity, sold by the millions to Asian markets as a culinary delicacy and herbal remedy. Because of their high market value, sea cucumbers are being over-fished in the region. Once plentiful in shallow, near-shore waters, many people now resort to deep sea diving in order to locate specimens. Diving not only threatens the sustainability of sea cucumber populations, but also has resulted in numerous deaths of untrained divers.

Blue Ventures has launched a sea cucumber farming project as a way to protect wild populations of the species and to offer locals a safe and sustainable livelihood. Blue Ventures trained village women to grow lab-raised sea cucumbers in shallow-water pens. The women then sell the sea cucumbers to a local fishing company, keeping all the profits and providing themselves with a sustainable source of income.

Eco-tourism

Eco-tourism is among the fastest growing industries in Madagascar. It is currently estimated that at least half of all tourists arriving in Madagascar each year visit a coral reef area. But the small number of basic hotels now operating around the Andavadoaka region employ few local villagers and give little or no benefit to the surrounding communities.

Blue Ventures is working to develop an eco-tourism industry in Andavadoaka that will provide locals with sustainable incomes as well as a financial incentive to keep local habitats beautiful and healthy. Blue Ventures has trained more than a dozen villagers from Andavadoaka as eco-tour guides, teaching them such skills as safety, cultural awareness, local history, climate and regional ecology.

Blue Ventures is also building an eco-lodge that will be fully owned and managed by Andavadoaka. The lodge will be carbon-neutral, powered by wind and solar energy, and all profits from the lodge will go directly back to the community.