http://www.reefdoctor.org/index.php/news/ News en rod@reefdoctor.org Copyright 2007 2007-07-18T19:36:00-07:00 http://www.reefdoctor.org/index.php/rd/news/marine_museum_and_resource_centre_to_open_soon_in_ifaty/ http://www.reefdoctor.org/index.php/rd/news/marine_museum_and_resource_centre_to_open_soon_in_ifaty/#When:19:36:00Z The marine museum located on the beach just north of Ifaty village nears completion. The museum will house numerous shells (kindly donated by Regional Tourist Association representative Mr Allain, of Toliara) as well as informative posters about the local environment, threats and conservation ideas.The marine museum located on the beach just north of Ifaty village nears completion. The museum will house numerous shells (kindly donated by Regional Tourist Association representative Mr Allain, of Toliara) as well as informative posters about the local environment, threats and conservation ideas. There will also be a display of winning posters from a drawing competition at Ifaty school organized by ReefDoctor. The aim of the museum is to educate local people and tourists about the local environment and problems associated with it. There will be notes on good tourism practices, such as not buying illegal shells and treading on the coral. This part of the museum will go hand in hand with tourism information leaflets and the implementation of the Rose Garden Marine Protected Area – a popular tourist destination. The museum is not only for tourists however and it is hoped that local people including school children will visit the museum and benefit from a better understanding of their environment, the threats facing it and what they can do to help. School children will be required to visit the museum as part of the new marine curriculum being developed in this area which aims to create a basic understanding of the local marine environment and its associated processes, creating a more educated and aware next generation. news 2007-07-18T19:36:00-07:00 http://www.reefdoctor.org/index.php/rd/news/rose_garden_will_soon_become_a_marine_protected_area/ http://www.reefdoctor.org/index.php/rd/news/rose_garden_will_soon_become_a_marine_protected_area/#When:20:28:00Z The Rose Garden will soon become an official community reserve. The Rose Garden is an area in the lagoon with a high percentage of live coral cover and marine lifeThe Rose Garden will soon become an official community reserve. The Rose Garden is an area in the lagoon with a high percentage of live coral cover and marine life and has long been designated as a no-fishing zone by local fisherman who recognized its good state of health and tourism potential. The laws required to protect the area are almost in place thanks to the work of FIMIHARA (Ifaty and Mangily village fishing associations) and ReefDoctor. Once the laws are in place tourists and dive operators will be charged a small fee for visiting the site. Mooring buoys will be installed, to prevent anchor damage to the coral, and an on-site guardian will be employed to ensure people respect these laws, which includes no fishing. The laws will also allow offenders to be fined. These laws will be of huge benefit to the area which sees a great deal of destruction through poor tourism practices, such as tourists treading on and pirogues dropping anchor on the coral. The Rose Garden is so named as foliose coral makes up a large percentage of the area. This is a particularly fragile coral and breaks very easily.  The Rose Garden is only a small site and so will not be acting as a sink as is the aim of many marine protected areas, but will hopefully work in a small way to improve the reef by adding value to the reef system for the local people. The funds generated from the admission charge will be split between Ifaty and Mangily villages and go towards news 2007-06-16T20:28:00-07:00 http://www.reefdoctor.org/index.php/rd/news/ifaty_village_now_has_womens_association/ http://www.reefdoctor.org/index.php/rd/news/ifaty_village_now_has_womens_association/#When:20:26:01Z Through talks with ReefDoctor and the President of Ifaty village it was decided to create a Women's Association.Through talks with ReefDoctor and the President of Ifaty village it was decided to create a Women’s Association. A meeting of all the women in the village was held in the local school and the reason for creating the association explained and the positions filled by voting. The bureau (committee) who represent the association, comprises of one president, two vice-presidents, two secretaries, two treasurers, two account auditors and two advisers. The association has a legal standing which means that they may be eligible to apply for grants from either government or non-governmental sources. The Women’s Association will help decide where to spend funds generated from the Rose Garden Marine Protected Area and will also act as a point of contact in the village for community development projects. Presentations about health and hygiene are planned as is a demonstration of the solar ovens. news 2007-06-16T20:26:01-07:00 http://www.reefdoctor.org/index.php/rd/news/two_new_fads_to_be_placed/ http://www.reefdoctor.org/index.php/rd/news/two_new_fads_to_be_placed/#When:20:03:01Z A FAD is a Fish Aggregating Device. It aggregates fish as they are attracted to the shelter provided by the FAD. FADs do not increase the numbers of fish in the sea but aggregate them into one place so they are easier to fish.A FAD is a Fish Aggregating Device. It aggregates fish as they are attracted to the shelter provided by the FAD. FADs do not increase the numbers of fish in the sea but aggregate them into one place so they are easier to fish. The purpose of the FADs here in the Bay of Ranobe is to help to reduce the high fishing pressure within the lagoon. It is hoped that the FADs will encourage more people to venture to the exterior to fish.  The people living in the coastal areas of South-West Madagascar belong to the Vezo tribe. Vezo are by tradition skilled sea-farers and totally dependent on the sea. They often have small pirogues (dug-out canoes) with rice sacks sewn together for sails and the majority of them do all their fishing within the lagoon. Over the last few years there has been a huge rise in population, Madagascar has one of the highest birth-rates in the world. There is also a migration of people from inland to the coast. As a result there are now more and more fishermen in the area. The lagoon where most of them fish is a shallow, sheltered area and a home for many juvenile fish. The exterior offers the chance for fishermen to catch different species of fish, including larger pelagic species. Our aim is that the FADs will attract some pelagic species and prove successful. The FADs will be managed by FIMIHARA (Ifaty and Mangily village fishing associations) with advice from ReefDoctor. The FADs will be open in rotation and the number of fishermen allowed to fish the FADs will be limited. This is to prevent the FADs being out-fished as soon as they are opened. The location of the FADs will be in 30m of water South of the South Pass. They are not deep enough or far enough out to act as full pelagic species attracting FADs, but will hopefully encourage more fishermen to venture to the exterior and realise that they can fish there and catch larger fish and thus reduce the fishing pressure within the lagoon. news 2007-06-16T20:03:01-07:00