The West - Madagascar - page 662

'TO LIVE WITH THE SEA'
Alasdair Harris, Blue Ventures
The people of Madagascar's coastal villages are culturally, economically and spiritu-
ally tied to the sea. Villagers rely on marine resources for food, transport and trade,
and often hold ceremonies and erect shrines thanking their ancestors for the bounty
provided by the ocean. The Vezo people, located along the southwest coastal areas of
Madagascar, are known as 'the people of the sea' because of their semi-nomadic sea-
faring culture (see Click Here ).
With some 3,000km of submerged coral reefs, Madagascar's coastal areas are
among the most biologically diverse and yet least-studied ecosystems on earth.
However, local demand for these resources is rising as a result of population growth
and immigration from arid inland regions.
It has been estimated that at least half of all tourists arriving in Madagascar each
year visit a coral reef area. Despite the biodiversity, economic importance and vul-
nerability of the country's coastal areas, Madagascar's coral reefs have been largely
neglected from a conservation perspective, primarily because they do not harbour the
same endemicity that is seen in 'biodiversity hotspot' terrestrial ecosystems. But the
goodnewsisthatthepeopleofMadagascararenowbeginningtotakestepstoprotect
the marine resources they rely upon for survival.
Since 2003, the remote village of Andavadoaka has been the centre of an exciting
new movement in coastal management in Madagascar. With the help of international
marine conservation group Blue Ventures, Andavadoaka's fishing community has pi-
oneered locally managed marine reserves and fisheries closures to improve the sus-
tainability of the region's fisheries and protect the biodiversity underpinning the Vezo
way of life. These pilot reserves have produced impressive results, improving fisher-
ies catches and encouraging neighbouring villages to get involved.
Working together, these villages established Velondriake, the first community-
managed marine protected area (MPA) in the country. Today, Velondriake (literally
'to live with the sea') is the largest locally managed marine reserve in the Indian
Ocean,spanningover800squarekilometres,andbenefitingmorethan10,000people.
TheMPAincorporates24villagessurroundingAndavadoaka,andprotectscoralreefs,
mangroves, sea grass beds, baobab forests and other threatened habitats.
Velondriake is governed through a dina - traditional village laws governing re-
source use that have been legalised by the state. Malagasy law gives strong enforce-
ment and conflict resolution powers to the local communities, allowing them to levy
fines for infractions of the dina .
Visitors can find out more at Velondriake's information centre at the southern end
of Andavadoaka's beach, where arrangements can be made for visits into the MPA's