(March 31, 2015) In Antongil Bay a new fish preservation technolo-gy was introduced, via smoking kilns called Alto-na ovens, to reduce post-harvest loss in fish products while increasing income of fish proces-sors, an activity conducted by women. The main benefits of this Altona oven compared to tradi-tional fish processing techniques include lower needs in wood for combustion and the ability to process a greater quantity of fish in a smaller amount of time as well as improved quality of fish products. Thanks to...

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(March 31, 2015) ScienceDaily, April 10, 2014.A study from WCS and others -- generated from data gathered from nearly 300 marine sites over thousands of square miles of ocean -- found that the unique conditions of the northern Mozam-bique Channel -- a confluence of tides, currents, eddies, along with less exposure to waves and storms -- seems to protect the channel's high coral richness. The research team asserts the corals of the Mozambique Channel should be a priority for conservation action. "The remaini...

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(March 31, 2015) For the past few years, WCS’s investments in Ankivonjy, Ankarea and Soariake sites have fo-cused on establishing the marine parks. As the marine parks evolve into an operational state, WCS recognizes the importance of promoting proper marine surveillance and law enforcement. To this end, in partnership with the Ministry of Fisheries, and Madagascar Fisheries Surveillance Center (CSP), and with the assistance of an in-ternational expert, WCS conducted a comprehen-sive enforcement assessment...

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(March 31, 2015) The President of Madagascar has pledged his country’s commitment to triple marine protected areas to protect Madagascar’s staggering marine biodiversity, which ranges from the largest ex-panse of coral reefs in the Western Indian Ocean to one of the world’s largest breeding grounds for humpback whales. The announcement was made by His Excellency Hery Rajaonarimampianina, President of Madagascar, in Sydney, Australia at the closing ceremonies for the 2014 IUCN World Parks Congre...

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(March 31, 2015) Northwest Madagascar is an important site for the feeding and breeding of marine turtles, espe-cially green and hawksbill turtles. Hawksbill tur-tles, which rarely nest in this part of the Indian Ocean, do nest in some locations in Nosy Iranja (in Ankivonjy MPA), which is also the most im-portant nesting site for green turtles in Madagas-car. Since 2011, WCS has been partnering with Kélonia to improve conservation status of marine turtles in Ankivonjy and Ankarea MPAs. Kélonia, the...

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(March 31, 2015) Sea cucumbers are in high demand in Asian mar-kets. As part of a partnership between WCS, the private sector and coastal communities, sea cu-cumber aquaculture has been trialed in Andravona in Soariake marine protected area, Southwestern Madagascar. Indian Ocean Trepang (IOT), a private sector partner, worked with WCS to identify potential sea cucumber farming sites in Saoriake marine protected area and then sup-plied juvenile sea cucumbers reared in their hatchery to be grown in three community...

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(March 31, 2015) With a marine zone of over 1 million square kilo-meters – an area nearly double the national land surface - Madagascar supports greater total ma-rine biodiversity than any other western Indian Ocean country. In line with the Aichi targets es-tablished under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, the Government of Madagascar has committed to tripling the number of marine parks and has enlisted WCS as a leading technical part-ner in this effort. Together with the government and local com...

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(March 31, 2015) A community association, established and sup-ported by WCS since 2003, and focused on im-proving sustainable management of marine re-sources in Madagascar’s Antongil Bay has been awarded the Equator Prize. The community asso-ciation—called the Plateforme de Concertation pour le Développement Durable de la Baie d’Antongil (PCDDBA)— received $5,000 at an award ceremony at the United Nations in New York on September 22, 2014. Presented by the Equator Initiative, the E...

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(March 30, 2015) Jeffrey Gettleman, the East Africa Bureau Chief for the New York Times, visited Wildlife Conser-vation Society’s marine program in Antongil Bay, in northeastern Madagascar as part of a story on mosquito net fishing. “It was the most interesting of all the mosquito net trips we made” said Jef-frey Gettleman. “I have done a lot of research on this topic and this is the first place I have heard where there is a community backlash against this type of fishing.” In his a...

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(March 30, 2015) WCS is grateful to the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, the Helmsley Charitable Trust, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Associ-ation, and the UK Government through the Dar-win Initiative, for recently awarding new grants to WCS. These partners bring critical support for WCS’s long-term field based conservation efforts in Antongil Bay, Toliara seascape and Nosy Be seascape. The most recent grant, funded by Darwin Initiative, ha...

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(March 05, 2015) This week, we interview Alison Clausen, the Madagascar Country Director for the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). She is responsible for the continued development of a WCS Madagascar Program which is both site- and species-based, and promotes collaboration with government ministries, the private sector, and the community.

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