(April 24, 2012) Nosy Be Seascape in northwest Madagascar, is part of the center of marine biodiversity of the Western Indian Ocean. The coral ecosystems of northwest Madagascar have excep- tional value in terms of biodiversity, with high coral cover, a high number of coral species and high resilience to climate change. Throughout the year, whale sharks, dugongs, and healthy and abundant populations of small coastal cetace- ans and marine turtles live in this seascape. The main threats to this excep...

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(April 19, 2012) The dugong is a seagrass-dependant marine mammal found in tropical and subtropical coastal wa- ters. Although dugongs occur in over 40 countries, most of these are developing economies with limited capacity to contain impacts on dugongs within sustainable levels, and population declines and local extinction have been reported for a number of areas within their range. As a signatory of the Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation and Management of Dugongs and their Habitats thro...

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(April 19, 2012) Antongil Bay is the largest bay in Madagascar and is among the most productive in the Indian Ocean, serving as a mating and nursery ground for many marine species. In the early 2000s, the beach seine was introduced in the Bay and in recent years its use has increased. Beach seines are very fine mesh nets that are deployed in shallow waters, where they catch everything in their path, including young and juvenile fish and shrimp. As a result, they have been shown to cause severe depletio...

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(April 11, 2012) Antongil Bay, in northeast Madagascar, contains many marine habitats: estuaries, mangroves, rocky shores, coral reefs, and seagrass beds facing threats from high fishing pressure and illegal fishing, depletion of mangrove forests, sedimentation from terrestrial run- off, and petroleum industry exploration. To protect those critical habitats the Marine National Park of Nosy Antafana was created in 1989 (1,000 ha), three marine protected areas, within the Masoala National...

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